


He's My Boyfriend

by roooollling_thunder



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Angst and Feels, Anxiety, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Child Abuse, Drinking, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, Homophobia, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Major Character Injury, Medical, Minor Injuries, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Older Brothers, Protective Tsukishima Kei, Recovery, Scars, Self-Harm, Smoking, Team as Family, Trans Character, Transphobia, Trauma, Triggers, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Violence, a really messed up family, took off some tags so I don’t spoil anything
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:34:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27153211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roooollling_thunder/pseuds/roooollling_thunder
Summary: Hitoshi Shota was just an average boy; he just didn't always look like one. His only escape from life was volleyball; and he put all his heart and soul into the sport.When Hitoshi joins the Karasuno Volleyball Club his world may be making a change for the better.All that't left now is the whole living outside volleyball thing. But, one step at a time, right?Warning:If you are triggered by any of the subjects that are mentioned in the tags, please don't continue reading. Any major triggers in chapters will be posted at the beginning as a warning but more minor ones, such as implied/referenced, will not be posted.
Relationships: Takeda Ittetsu/Ukai Keishin, Tsukishima Kei/Original Character(s), Yamaguchi Tadashi/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	1. Vibes: -10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character Description:  
> Name: Hitoshi Shota  
> Age: 15  
> Birthday: December 22nd  
> Hair: Fluffy brown hair, slightly curly and messy  
> Eyes: Brown  
> Height: 160.02 cm (about 5'3)  
> Other: He has a lot of freckles. A lot of them. He also has regular piercings in his ears.

_Receive_

_Set_

_Receive_

_Set_

.

.

.

.

Sweat covered the boys forehead as he practiced volleyball alone, playing against a wall. He did this routine alone in an empty school gym.

"Hey, Hito-kun!" A loud voice rang through the empty gym, but he already knew who it was. 

This so-called 'Hito' turned around just before he was tackled to the ground by his friend, getting a face-full of orange hair.

"Ugh, get off, Sho-kun." Hito groaned trying to get out of his friend's grasp.

"Oh, sorry, Hitoshi." 'Sho' said quickly, rushing to get up, lending a hand towards the male who was still on the floor.

He tentatively took Sho's hand and pulled himself up. 

"What's got you so excited, Hinata?" 

"Can I not tackle-hug my friend without a reason?" He responded, grinning wildly.

"The last time you tackle-hugged me was when you found out I was going to join the team. And that was in the middle of our 2nd year."

Hinata grinned sheepishly, remembering that his 2nd year was also the first time he had met Hitoshi, and not only a few months later he tackle-hugged him. 

"That was also our first hug!" Hinata added in. The slightly shorter boy smiled fondly at the memory, adding a small 'yep' to confirm the fact.

Hinata's eyes widened, remembering what he had come here for. 

"Three 1st years joined the team! And I asked Izumi-kun and Kōji-kun to join, and they said yes!" His eyes sparkled with joy, thinking about playing with a real team against another team. 

"Really?! That's great!" Hitoshi exclaimed.

"Can you set me up a few, Hito-kun?" Hinata asked, starting from the original topic.

"Of course!"


	2. Shrimpy Team

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charater description:  
> Name: Tarō Shota  
> Age: 21  
> Birthday: July 6th  
> Hair: Medium-light brown, only slightly messy  
> Eyes: Blue-grey  
> Height: 190.5 cm (about 6'3")  
> Other: He also has freckles but not as many as Hitoshi.

This was it, their first real game against a real team, and they were going to win.

Hinata and Hitoshi rushed down the stairs of the gymnasium, their team falling behind. 

"Hinata-senpai, Hitoshi-senpai, slow down!" Members from the small team yelled.

They rushed into the gym, looking around, _Its huge!_ Hitoshi thought, Shōyō voiced his opinion. 

The team caught up with them as Hinata took in the smell of the gym. 

"Smells like Air Salonpas!" He exclaimed, grinning wildly.

"Don't say stuff like that, Hinata-kun, it's dorky." Izumi stated. 

"Yeah, don't be that guy." Kōji added in.

"But guys, this is our very first real volleyball game!" Hitoshi said, defending himself and his friend.

"I've waited three long years for this..." Hinata said, his eyes gathering small tears.

"It's true, I guess it is kind of amazing we made it this far." Kōji added, not really showing any emotion. Hinata and Hitoshi, on the other hand, had looks of wonder and amazement on their faces.

Hitoshi looked around, watching all the other teams practice, hearing the loud noises of volleyballs hitting the floor, shoes squeaking, and teams counting as they stretched and practiced.

Hinata turned around, thanking Izumi and Kōji for helping the team out. They smiled sheepishly and blushed, trying and failing to say that 'it was no big deal' and he 'doesn't need to make it weird'. Next Hinata thanked the first years for joining the team.

"Spare is the tears, Shōyō-kun." Kōji said, making him turn around quickly.

"I'm not crying!"

"You've got tears in your eyes." Izumi butted in. Hitoshi was trying to stifle his laughter in the background.

"He....he's right!" He laughed.

"Hey, I thought you were on my side!" Shōyō cried.

"I am but..." Hitoshi had now burst out laughing.

"Umm...I'm sorry to interrupt but we should really warm-up now." One of the first years said timidly.

"Come on captain, you're in charge here." Izumi said.

"He's right Shōyō-kun! You're the one who dragged us into this thing and you still haven't explained what all the rules are!" Kōji said, annoyed.

"I....I know that!" Hinata stated.

"Hey, I tried to but you wouldn't listen to me!" Hito yelled defensively.

"You're not the captain!"

"I know all the rules too!"

"Still not captain!"

"You're not either!"

The two continued to bicker back and forth before Hinata interrupted them.

"Even though we barely made the cut, we are here to win this."

"We can't win with a thrown-together team of rookies!" Izumi said.

"Sure we can!" Hinata said encouragingly. 

"Kitagawa First might be tough though." Said Kōji.

"Maybe......but I'll beat them anyway!" Hinata said, his confidence not wavering.

"Yeah! And I'll make sure the ball never touches the floor!" Hitoshi exclaimed. He was sporting a different color jersey, while everyone else had a light green jersey with a dark green number, his was dark green with a light green 2 on the front.

All conversations stopped as Kitagawa First walked up behind them. Hinata looked behind him, confused as to why everyone stopped talking. Once he saw the team he jumped back as Hitoshi tried to excuse themselves for being in the way.

"Move dude!" Izumi said. Hitoshi and Kōji worked together to drag him back with the rest of the team. 

_They're tall...._ The team collectively thought.

Once Kitagawa walked onto the court the crowd started cheering. They rushed out to look at the stands, trying to find the source of the noise.

 _Oh no,_ Hitoshi thought, feeling uneasy, _they have an entire cheer team._

The small team all felt one thing at that moment. _Fear_.

"Ugh, damn it! We're going to be going up against _these_ frickin' guys?!" Kōji yelled at Hinata. 

"It's fine! I don't care how big they are," Hinata said, his confidence coming back. "I'll bust right through them!"

"Maybe you're right, you are a really good jumper!" Stated Izumi.

"Yeah, we've got this." Kōji added.

Hinata stopped paying attention though, he didn't feel so good. 

"Wonder...where...the...bathrooms... are." He said mostly to himself, the entire team had heard him anyways.

He stalked off to the hallway to find the restrooms. As he did so, Kōji started complaining while Hitoshi was trying to defend Shōyō.

"Hey, Hito!" Someone from the stands yelled, the boy looked around, trying to find the person who yelled for him.

Looking up towards the stands he saw a black leather jacket and someone who was waving towards him. 

"Oh, hey Tarō!" Hitoshi yelled back. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I not come support my little brother and his first volleyball game?"

Hitoshi had noticed three other people standing next to Tarō, they were wearing different jackets though, they all had on a black sports jacket. Hitoshi thought that he had seen the silver haired boy and brunet boy somewhere before, but he ignored that. He saw Tanaka-senpai talking to the others.

Izumi poked Hito on the cheek. Hitoshi slightly flinched and turned to see what he was needed for.

"I'm going to look for Sho-kun." Izumi said, Hitoshi smiles and nodded, giving a small 'okay'. He watched as Izumi walked away, going to find their missing captain. Hito looked back up to the stands to see his brother and the three strangers conversing amongst themselves.

Hitoshi looked around running a hand through his messy, brown hair nervously, trying to calm his nerves.

Once Shōyō got back they started practicing, but he kept spacing out and staring at Kitagawa First while they practiced. Hito wasn't paying much attention, while the team practiced together he was practicing his sets, receives, and occasionally spikes against a wall.

~~~~~~

The opposing teams stood on opposite sides of the court. Hinata and Hitoshi were smiling, anxiously waiting for the whistle to blow, while the rest of their small team stood in fear and anxiety, afraid of what was going to happen next.

 _Finally, our first game!_ Hitoshi thought.

The whistle blew loudly, as the teams each shouted 'time to start' while they bowed, thanking them for the game.

They each got into their initial starting positions. Hitoshi and Nori, one of the first years, switch out, so Nori was on the bench and Hito was in the game. 

The whistle for the second time that day, and the serve was up. The serve went straight to Kōji who had tried to receive it too late, so the point went to Kitagawa. 

Hito shifted from foot to foot waiting for the next serve. He adjusted his glasses making sure that they wouldn't fall off easily.

The serve was up. The ball was going for the gap between Hitoshi and Kōji.

"I've got it!" Hitoshi yelled, making sure Kōji didn't run for the ball and cause a collision.

Hito ran for it, determined to make sure the ball stayed off the floor. He was so close, and he received it. But the ball had gone the wrong way, and went out of bounds.

 _That's another point for them._ Hitoshi thought, angered that he didn't make a good receive. _If only I had taken another step, I could have made it._

"Hey," Hinata pat Hitoshi on the back, breaking him out of his trance. "Don't beat yourself up about it, okay?" He said, giving a small, encouraging smile.

"Yeah, alright!" Hito said, enthused. "I'll get the next one!"

 _We've worked so hard to make it this far, I can't let them win that easily!_ Hito thought.

~~~~~~

They _lost_. They only earned a total of 10 points during the game, and most of them were mistakes made by the other team.

Hitoshi lined up with the rest of the team, not paying attention to what Hinata and the opposing setter were doing.

They said their thanks and left. He grabbed his bag and walked sadly outside, waiting for his brother.

Tarō walked out not a minute later and immediately went to hug his brother. Hitoshi didn't realize that he was crying until his brother started wiping away his tears.

"It's going to be okay because you're going to get better and you'll win over and over again." Hitoshi just snuggled into his brother's jacket (when did Tarō put it on him?) and nodded, drying his tears.

"You know, today I was karate chopped in the throat by a Naruto wannabe, if that makes you feel any better." Hitoshi couldn't hold back his laughter, his brother always made him feel safe and never failed to make a stupid joke to cheer him up.

"Don't laugh!" Tarō exclaimed, slinging an arm around the younger, "it really did hurt." This just made Hito laugh more.

"How about we go get something to eat?"

"That sounds nice."

"You're paying, Hito."

Hitoshi playful punched his brother's shoulder. 

"Nope, it's your turn to pay."

"What do you mean?" Tarō asked in fake confusion.

"Oh yeah? Who was the one who bought their older brother 3 ice cream cones last week."

"Me..?"

"No."


	3. Where Hitoshi Feels Nothing But Anxiety and Fear

_Where'd he go?!_ Hitoshi thought, looking around the school for his friend, Hinata. He wasn't running per say, just waking very fast through the halls. 

Hitoshi stopped walking and decided to take in his surroundings. The halls were packed with students, new and old, looking for clubs or helping others. Hito thought that the best option would be to ask for help. He tapped a black haired girl on the shoulder, hoping to find any source of help.

"Yes?" She asked, Hitoshi had assumed she was a third-year as she was handing out flyers for an after-school club.

"Oh, I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the boys gym?" He asked timidly. The third-year adjusted her glasses, humming a small 'yes'.

"It's just over there," She answered, pointing towards a door that led outside. "Right out that door."

Hitoshi tightened the grip he had on his bag, offering a small thanks to the girl, before rushing out the door.

Hito walked towards the gym, feeling nervous.

_What if they don't let me in?_

_What if they aren't okay with-_

_No, stop, you'll make it on the team, you'll show them that you deserve a spot on their team._ Hitoshi shook his head, pushing the negative thoughts away.

"Wait a minute, so one of the other applicants goes by the name of, Shōyō Hinata, is that you?" An unfamiliar voice said.

"Huh?" He heard a small noise of confusion, maybe that was Hinata? 

"It's just surprising that's all," the same unknown voice said, "but hey, you both decided to join the team."

Hitoshi stepped into the unfamiliar gym. 

"Um....is-is this the boys volleyball club?" Hitoshi asked shakily.

"Yep!" A cheery voice answered. "Are you, by any chance, Hitoshi Shota?" It wasn't the same voice as before, but Hito couldn't help but feel like he had seen the silver-hair male before.

"O-oh...yeah that's me."

"Hey, Hito-kun! I thought I lost you!" Hinata yelled.

"You did!" Hitoshi said back jokingly.

"Hey! Hito's here! You were the libero right? On the same team as Hinata." Finally, a voice he recognized, Tanaka-senpai.

"Y-yeah, Tanaka-senpai," Hito said. "I'm an all-rounder though....I can play any position that I'm needed in.." 

"Well that is very useful, especially if a player is injured." Said the one that seemed all-to familiar. Hitoshi just nodded.

The two that Hito didn't know (he recognized the tall, black-haired one as the setter from Kitagawa First, he just didn't know his name) and Tanaka were taking an interest in the setter so he went to go sit on the edge of the stage, spacing out.

He had just gotten to thinking about the greek myth of Hades and Persephone when he heard the loud smack of a volleyball hitting someone in the face. He looked up to see the Vice Principals toupee on the brunet third-years head, and Hinata and the setter looking guilty.

Hitoshi almost laughed, almost, but decided strongly against it, not wanting to get into any trouble, especially on the first day.

"Captain," called the vice principal, "a word, please."

The unknown brunet walked outside with the vice principal. _Ok, so he's the captain. At least I know that much._ Hitoshi jumped off the stage, making a loud thump in the quiet gym. The other four looked startled, almost as if they forgot he was there.

"Sorry." Hito apologized. _I hope they aren't upset._

"It's fine, you just scared us is all." Replied the silver-haired boy. "By the way, I'm Kōshi Sugawara."

"Thanks, I'm Hitoshi Shota, but I guess you already knew that. You can just call me Hitoshi or Hito."

"Tobio Kageyama." The setter stated.

"And you already know my name, Hito-kun!" Hinata exclaimed just as the captain had walked back in, looking stern. The five all stood in a line, without even having to be told to do so.

"Luckily we're not in trouble," He stated. "He doesn't even want an apology." Everyone collectively sighed in relief. "But we have been sworn to secrecy." The captain said, making them wince. Hitoshi took a small step backwards and took a large interest in his shoes (Are those new laces?) in an attempt to make himself appear smaller. Sugawara took a sideways glance at Hito, but decided not to say anything.

"And as for you two." The captain continued, but the two bickering cut him off.

"If you just handled the serve, this wouldn't have happened in the first place." Kageyama stated. "You're the same klutz you were last year. I can't believe I thought you'd be a challenge-"

"You don't know when to quit do you?!" Shōyō yelled. Hitoshi looked up at the captain and saw that he was just about to snap. He quickly looked down trying to look even smaller.

" _Can it_!" The captain shouted, finally reaching his breaking point. Hitoshi flinched, but it was covered by the fact that everyone else did too. "I have something I want to say. I don't know what your reasons are for coming to this high school, but I assume you came to win."

"Yeah!" Hinata yelled.

"Yes, obviously." Said Kageyama.

"Up until a few years ago, Karasuno's volleyball team could compete with the best of them. They even made it to _nationals_ once," He continued, "but these days we're 8th in the prefecture. Which isn't _terrible_ but not exactly _good_ either. People talk. They call us, the wingless crows." By now Hitoshi was looking at their unnamed captain with interest.

"I remember when Karasuno played in the Spring High National Tournament. I was a student in a nearby school and just _happened_ to be in the neighborhood. Watching them fight those tough opponents in that _huge_ gym in Tokyo, it gave me chills. Let's go back one more time!" 

"Nationals eh? Plenty of high schools talk about making it there one day." Kageyama cut in. "Doesn't mean they'll go."

"Why you little-" Tanaka started.

"I know what you mean," the captain stopped him mid-sentence, "but I'm _dead_ serious." He said, almost deadly. "If we want to get there we need to be a coordinated piece of unit. That means, no more run-ins with the VP for one thing." The captain started walking towards the trouble-making-duo. Tanaka, Sugawara, and Hitoshi all took a step sideways, not looking in his direction.

"I'm not saying you have to be best friends or anything like that. I know back in middle school you two might have been adversaries on opposite sides of the net, but let me be clear." He said in a voice, clear and keen. "You're on one side now and you need to make peace with that. Is that clear?" He ended, an almost deadly aura surrounding him. By the looks of it, he had sent a shiver down the duos spine. He even made Hitoshi shiver and the captain wasn't talking to him.

"I don't care how good you are," He said placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "or how determined you are to play hard, anyone who lets a petty rivalry get in the way of the team's success, gets the boot!" He yelled, shoving club application forms in their face whilst pushing them outside. 

"You two are _banned_ from club activities until you learn to think of yourselves as teammates." He ended by closing the doors in their faces.

Hitoshi shifted on his feet, chewing on his bottom lip, wondering if he was going to get kicked out too.

Loud shouts of protest were muffled from inside of the gym, but they were still very much there. Soft pleas came from Hinata, Sugawara looked at the door and then back at the captain.

"Are you sure this is wise?" Sugawara questioned. "I mean we need players, you can't build a team by threatening to cooperate, it takes time."

"Yeah, I know but-"

A loud 'move over idiot' and a thump was heard from outside, as well as an apology from Kageyama. _Are you sure you're going to cooperate with the person you just threw on the_ _ground_ _?_ Hito questioned in his head. 

Sugawara pulled Hitoshi off to the side, "Daichi acts like this a lot, but he means well."

Hito looked back warily towards the door, at which Daichi was talking to the duo. "Are you sure..?" He asked turning back to face his upperclassmen. He just laughed and ruffled the brunet's already messy hair, walking off to join Tanaka.

A few seconds later Hitoshi walked over and stood behind Sugawara as Daichi closed the sliding doors in the duo's faces once more.

Once the rest of the team arrived they started to practice, Hitoshi being the only first year there. After a quick explanation on why they started practicing with a first year so early on in the year, they began.

So far they were doing spikes and receives, Hito playing with the rest of the team.

"Go right!" Suga yelled, setting the ball in Hitoshi's direction. He spiked it perfectly but he was 'blocked' by a makeshift wall one of the second years was holding up. The ball wasn't received, so they tried again, this time Daichi spiked it and Hito was able to dig the ball, keeping it off the floor.

"Cover!" He yelled hoping for another teammate's help.

Sugawara received it, "Tanaka!" he cried, letting the boy know the ball was meant for him.

This went on for a few minutes until they decided to stop for a water break. "Kiyoko should be here in a few minutes with our water." Daichi had said.

Once she had walked in the door, Hitoshi immediately recognized her as the girl who had shown him which way the gym was. _So that's how she knew, she's the manager._

Tanaka quickly showed up next to her, "Hey, Kiyoko! Thanks for your hard work. Oh, let me get that!" He said offering to take the bag she was carrying.

"No thanks, I can carry it myself." She responded.

"Okay then, you look super gorgeous today!" He complimented. Kiyoko took no interest in him and walked into the gym.

Tanaka had said something about how she's pretty when she ignores him, but Hitoshi no longer took interest in their conversation. He started passing to himself seeing how many passes he could do before the ball hit the ground.

17

18

19

20!

He was mumbling as he counted, not wanting to lose track of his passes. He passed again, but this time it was too high so he set it. He was doing great up until the set, instead of the ball coming back down in front of him, it went towards Daichi.

 _Oh no, nonononono. Please don't hit him._ Hito was going to shout something to let him know, but there was a lump in his throat. Something was stopping him from making any noise. 

_Smack_! The ball hit their captains shoulder. Hitoshi couldn't move, was he going to get kicked out? His face showed an expression of fear. _What if he kicks me out like Hinata and Kageyama? What if he's really mad and starts yelling at me?!_

Hito quickly bowed, glasses threatening to fall off his face. He mumbled out multiple apologies until he felt someone ruffle his hair and chuckle lightly.

"It's okay, really. Things like this are bound to happen in volleyball, as long as you're sorry and you know what you did wrong, it's fine." It was Daichi. Hitoshi got out of his bowing position and rubbed his arm sheepishly.

"You're not mad at me?" He asked quietly, not looking him in the eye.

"Of course not! It was an honest accident and no one meant for it to happen." He let out a sigh of relief, relaxing his tense body immensely.

"Now! Let's get back to practice!"

"Yeah!"

Practice went on for a few more minutes until it was time to clean up. Hitoshi walked up to Suga nervously.

"Um....can..can...I...um...can I talk to you...? In....in private?" He asked, finding it hard to form full sentences.

"Of course! Let's go to the club room." He responded.

Sugawara quickly let Daichi know where they were going. Hito followed behind him, again, finding great interest in his shoes. (The pattern looks different than what I remember.)

They made it to the club room, unlocking the door Sugawara gave a short 'come in' and walked into the room. Hitoshi followed in shortly.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Suga asked, closing the door.

"Well....I...um.." Hito wouldn't look at him and he was fidgeting with a loose string he found on his shirt, anxiety making his stomach do summersaults. "I...I...I'm not really....um comfortable changing with everyone else...?" He said, but it was more of a question than a statement.

"Would you mind telling me why?" Sugawara asked kindly, not trying to force answers out of the small boy.

"Well it's just....I'm....I'm trans...a-and I don't want everyone to know..."

Hitoshi felt a pair of arms around him, giving him a hug. "I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me." Suga let Hito out of his grasp, "There's a boys bathroom a few doors down you can use. It's a single so you won't have to worry about anyone walking in on you changing."

"Thank you, Sugawara-senpai."

"Any time."


	4. Salty with a Chance of Volleyball

Hitoshi always loved to skateboard. If he had to go anywhere, he always skated. It gave him time to think, or maybe just look at scenery. 

It was 6:00 in the morning, and Hito was going to practice. He didn't know what time practice started but he always left at 6:00 anyways.

He paused his music and stopped at the Sakanoshita Store like he did every morning.

"Good morning, Mr. Ukai!" He said cheerily as he entered the store.

"Hey, kid." He replied tiredly, looking up at the usual customer. "Woah, what happened to your face?" He asked, referring to the scratch, that was still bleeding, on Hitoshi's face.

"Oh, I fell on my way here, there was an unexpected pothole that I missed." _Liar._

"Alright...as long as you're okay."

"I'm good!"

Walking through the isles he grabbed a package of almonds and water.

He walked up to the counter where Ukai was sitting. "The usual?" He asked not to bother to look up from his magazine.

"Mmhmm!"

"361.77 yen."

He looked at the time, 6:10? I hope I'm not late. Hitoshi places the money on the counter and leaves, but not without wishing Ukai a nice day.

~~~~~~

He made it to the school, putting his skateboard up and looking towards the gym.

 _Shit...the lights are on! I'm late!_ Fearing the worst he rushed towards the direction of the bathroom Sugawara had shown him yesterday.

Quickly changing into his gym uniform and switching out his binder for a too-tight sports bra, creating a makeshift binder, he grabbed his bag and ran towards the gym.

"Sorry I'm late!" Hitoshi yelled while bowing.

"You're not late! We just started early!" Hinata comforted.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting you then..." He said, straightening up.

"No, it's fine we were just about to take a break." Sugawara smiled.

Hito smiled back, feeling calmer. He grabbed his bag and pulled out his water and almonds. While eating he noticed Hinata staring longingly at his food. 

"Do you want one?" He offered while holding the bag out towards the older boy.

"What?! N-no...it's your food! You have it!" 

"Really, it's fine, I ate breakfast an hour ago so I'm not that hungry. Have some." _You liar, you didn't eat anything yesterday or today._

 _Shut up._ Hitoshi fought internally with himself.

"Really?! Thanks!" Hinata exclaimed. There were practically stars in his eyes as he took a small amount of almonds.

"No problem..." Hito finished the rest of the almonds. 

"Uhh.. shouldn't we clean up, it's almost 7:00." Said Kageyama.

~~~~~~

Once practice was over, Hitoshi changed back into his uniform and regular binder. He went back to the gym to grab his bag and started walking to class.

On his way there he bumped into a tall guy, who also wore glasses and had headphones resting around his neck.

"Watch where you're going, Shorty." He snapped.

"Oh...sorry." 

"Tsukki, be nice." Another person said, he had green hair and he had freckles that dotted his face. "I'm sorry, he acts like this a lot." The shorted of the two apologized.

"Oh no, it's my fault, I should've paid attention to where I was going." He said, trying to place the blame on himself and not somebody he just met.

"By the way, I'm Tadashi Yamaguchi, and that's Kei Tsukishima." Yamaguchi introduced.

"I'm Hitoshi Shota, year one class four."

"You're in class four, too? Tsukki and I are in class four also!" 

"If you two keep lolly-gagging we'll all be late to class." Tsukishima interrupted.

"Right, sorry." Hitoshi mumbled.

The three walked to class together and sat in their respective seats. Hito couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching him, he looked around and met Tsukishima's eyes, causing him to turn away suddenly. That was weird.

Hitoshi turned back towards the teacher, aimlessly drawing around in the margin of his notes. Before he knew it, classes were over and it was time for lunch.

Yamaguchi walked over to Hitoshi's desk. "Do you want to eat lunch with me and Tsukki, Shota-kun?" He asked.

"Would that be okay with your friend, Tsukishima? I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, it's fine, now let's go!"

Hitoshi walked with his new friends (are they friends? they just met.) to their lunch spot. 

It was a mostly secluded spot, only a couple other students near the area, but they were far enough away that - unless they were loud - the three couldn’t hear them. They all sat down in a somewhat triangular way. Hitoshi dug through his bag, looking for his bento box, once he found it he took it out of his bag.

Tsukishima looked at Hito's wrapping, which had small constellations scattered around it.

"What are you looking at, Shima?" Hitoshi asked, beginning to unwrap his box.

Tsukishima 'tsk'ed, "that's so dorky."

Hito ignored him and began to make conversation with Yamaguchi.

"Is it okay if I call you Yama?"

"Yeah! I think that's cute!"

"Well in that case you can call me Hitoshi, or Hito, whichever you prefer!"

Lunch went by fast and soon it was time to go back to class, Yamaguchi and Hitoshi exchanged numbers and even got Tsukishima to give Hitoshi his number also, though it took lots of convincing.

~~~~~~

Once class ended Hito went to get changed for practice, after he was done he walked outside but stopped once he saw his father was calling him. He thought about letting it ring and not answering but that would result in consequences.

"Why aren't you home yet, Seika?!" Hitoshi flinched at his dead name and the loud tone his father was using.

"I...I have volleyball practice..and school just ended...I um..wouldn't have made it home yet..."

"Don't talk back to me!" His father continued to yell at him and Hito was close to tears.

"Shota?" someone came around the corner of the wall he was leaning against. It was Suga.

His father said something about how he was 'making him late’, before hanging up. Hitoshi quickly wiped his eyes before looking at Sugawara.

"Sorry, I had to take a call."

"It's fine. Are you okay though, you seem upset."

"It's nothing, really." He reassured, flashing a smile.

"Ok then...just know you can talk to me if you ever need to." Sugawara said, not really believing Hito, but continued anyway.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks, Suga-san."

"You're late for practice, let's get going." Sugawara started walking back towards the gym. 

"I need to do something, I'll meet you inside." Hitoshi said quickly, going towards the bathroom. Making it there, he stared at himself in the mirror before silently starting to cry.

_You'll never be a real boy._

_You're just saying this for attention._

_Tranny._

_You're a girl and you always will be._

Peoples words rang through his head, making him feel worse. _This time it's different, he thought, I have people who are accepting, I have Suga and Tarō, even mom is trying to use my preferred pronouns and name. It's just dad and some dumb students from a few years ago. So why...why does it hurt so much._

He splashed water on his face as someone walked into the bathroom. He tried to walk past them but he was stopped.

"Sugawara's worried about you, I suggest you make it to practice." Tsukishima.

"Y-yeah, okay." 

He walked back to practice, only to notice that if Tsukishima knew Suga than he's also on the team. Hito saw Yamaguchi there too, I didn't know they played. 

~~~~~~

Practice ended and Yamaguchi came up to Hitoshi.

"I didn't know you played volleyball!" He said. 

"Oh, yeah. I've played since my second year in middle school, which isn't long but I practice really hard." Hito admitted.

“Really? That's cool! I’ve been playing since elementary!” Yamaguchi got a notification on his phone, "Oh, sorry but I have to go. See you tomorrow!" He said while grabbing his stuff and rushing out the door.

"See ya!" He called back.

Hitoshi sighed, _time to go home, but at least dad is working extra today, so he'll be home late. That's a plus._

Hitoshi went home, trying to not fall off his skateboard in the dark. 

When he got home he opened the door and took off his shoes. He saw his brother sitting on the couch, watching Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

"Hey Hito, mom's asleep, but there's some ramen on the stove. It's still warm." Tarō stated, not bothering to look away from the tv for even a second.

Hito put his bags down and made himself a bowl of ramen. He sat down on the couch next to his brother, watching the movie and eating his ramen, making comments on the movie here and there.

Once Hitoshi finished his dinner he placed his bowl in the sink, snuggling up next to his brother on the couch, falling asleep shortly after.


	5. This is Too Intense

**From: Suga-san**

I forgot to tell you, but for the 3-on-3 today, you are going to be playing with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi against Hinata, Kageyama, and Tanaka.

—

**From: Hito**

Do Shima and Yama know about this? Don't get me wrong, Yama would be fine with me on his team, but Shima? I don't need a funeral just yet.

—

**From: Suga-san**

I haven't informed anyone whose team you will be on, but I'll personally make sure that you don't die.

~~~~~~ 

Hitoshi sighed, placing his phone on the side table. He got up and stretched, a few joints popping as he did so. _It's 10:00, so I have around 1 hour to get ready and I'll leave at 11:00, arrive at 11:20, and have time for stretches and warm-ups._

He grabbed his makeshift binder (yes, he did have a real binder but because he was doing sports, a too-tight sports bra is a safer way to bind.) a new shirt, boxers, and shorts to change into. 

Hitoshi changed and adjusted glasses. He walked downstairs only to be greeted with the loud noises of his parents yelling. Hito quickly put on his headphones and briskly walked out the door, grabbing his shoes and skateboard on his way out.

~~~~~~

Hito stretched along with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, getting ready for their match.

"Alright let's get started!" Their captain called, "Shota will be playing on Tsukishima's team to make it 3-on-3." 

At this announcement Tsukishima 'tsk'ed and turned away from the shorter male, while Yamaguchi looked at him and smiled.

"Oh, you can just call me Hitoshi." He said nervously.

"Well," Tsukishima cleared his throat, "The Buzz Cut or the Shortie, who to crush." Yamaguchi and Hitoshi looked wearily at him, "I mean, challenge first right?" Shima was not-so-subtly talking trash about the other team.

Now Hito had noticed that the other three were listening into whatever Tsukishima was saying. "I do know I'd like to save His Highness for last."

Yamaguchi decided it was time to cut in, "Uhm, Tsukki, they can hear you, be careful."

"I know, genius, I want them to hear me."

"Why don't you tone it down a bit though?" Hitoshi said, his question went ignored by the tall blond.

"I can't wait to watch the King fall apart out there."

"Well now," Daichi interrupted, "you've got quite a personality there, don't ya?"

"It'll have to be a pretty great show to top watching him get abandoned by all his loyal subjects last year." Shima continued. Kageyama started growling and Hitoshi could tell that Kageyama was almost at his breaking point, and if Shima kept pushing him, he would snap.

"H-hey, why don't you leave Kageyama alone..?" Hito tried to get him to stop.

"Well well," Tanaka said, starting to walk to the trouble-duo in a girly fashion, "did you hear that you guys, their talking trash now. That jerk had better step....off." The three had a threatening aura around them. "Or he's dead meat!"

"Blehhh!" Hinata stuck his tongue out.

~~~~~~

Tanaka yelled as he spiked the ball, Tsukishima tried to block him but it ricocheted off his arms and hit their side of the court, giving the opposing team a point. This got Tanaka really exited so he took off his shirt and swung it around over his head whilst yelling.

"Put your shirt back on!" Sugawara yelled.

"Yeah calm down!" Ennoshita said, trying, and failing, to get Tanaka to stop.

"No one wants to see that!" Kinoshita yelled. 

"This is what happens when you get Tanaka to worked up." Said Daichi with a fond smile on his face.

Hitoshi served the ball, it went towards Tanaka which was received smoothly and got sent over to Kageyama, who set for Hinata, who was then blocked by Tsukishima, earning their team a point.

"You took me by surprise before, you have a really nice jump there. Now, if only you were about a foot taller you'd be a real superstar. Better start taking your vitamins." Tsukishima said teasingly.

Hinata's jaw was clenched as he looked at Shima in anger before he yelled, "whatever, one more!"

"I've got this one in the bag!" Hinata said as he jumped for another spike and yet again was blocked by Tsukishima. 

"Nice block, Shima!" Hitoshi said, complimenting the taller.

"Thanks." He said half-heartedly.

"You better snap out of it buddy, or you're going to keep getting blocked." Tsukishima said, turning to look at Kageyama. "Why not give him one of your 'Royal Sets'. The kind that wipes out your opponents, and your teammates at the same time."

"Shut your mouth." Kageyama said before walking away from the net.

"Yama, it's your serve!" Hito said as they rotated.

He served but it hit the net, causing it to fall and give the opponent a point.

"Oops. Sorry, Tsukki." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"It's good, Yama! Shake it off!" Hitoshi exclaimed, building Tadashi's confidence back up.

Kageyama picked up the volleyball while saying, "time to win," before getting ready to serve.

"You've got this! You can do it!" Hinata yelled.

He went to jump serve aiming for Hitoshi who received the ball, sending it to Tsukishima who set the ball for Yamaguchi. He spiked the ball before the blockers could reach him, the ball went towards Hinata who messed up his receive, sending the ball out of bounds and yet again earning another point for their team.

"Nice toss, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi complimented.

Hitoshi turned to Kageyama, looking at his stunned face. "Did you forget I was a libero in middle school? Receives are one of my specialties. I'm not _that_ weak when it comes to volleyball." 

"Your Grace, shouldn't you be taking this seriously?" Shima said.

"Dude, what's the matter with you, why do you keep picking on the guy? Chill out on the fricking nickname." Hinata said defensively.

"What for? Do you even know why everyone started calling him the King of the Court?"

"Huh? I just thought his enemies called him that? Because he's a really good player, and well, everybody was so afraid of him." Tsukishima laughed.

"That's a common misunderstanding, but it's just not true."

"Shima, stop." Hitoshi tried to get him to stop talking but his words were ignored, again.

"Well if the rumors are to be believed, his nickname, King of the Court, was given to him by the other players of Kitagawa First. Yeah, that's right, by his own teammates. The truth is, they were not paying him a compliment but calling him a tyrant. I'd been hearing about it for a long time, but now that I've seen him play, I'm convinced. He got benched at the finals because he was a domineering, power tripping, dictator." Tanaka and Hinata both looked at Kageyama in surprise.

"That's why you won't try a quick attack, you're still shaken up about what happened that day."

"Shima, leave him alone." Hitoshi tried again, but he was still ignored.

"You know what," Tanaka started walking up towards the net. "I've had enough of your sorry ass-"

"Tanaka." Daichi said, Tanaka looked at him. Once the two made eye contact Daichi shook his head as a signal to stop.

"Well why bother setting when there's no one there to spike it." Tsukishima said.

"You're right." Kageyama said after minutes of his own silence. "The thought of nobody being there to back me up, terrifies me, alright?"

"Yeah, but that was back in middle school." Hinata spoke up. "Your sets are going to reach me, no question about it." Kageyama looked surprised but he didn't say anything.

Hinata pointed a finger at Tsukishima, "After that, the only problem is how to get past this jerk-hole!" Tanaka and Daichi started to laugh, for what reason, no one really knew. Hinata then walked up to Kageyama. "You're going to kick Tsukishima's ass, join the volleyball team, and become the setter, just like we planned. Then you have to send the ball to me! It's not complicated!"

Kageyama looked mad, but he still didn't say anything, Hitoshi had moved to stand next to Yamaguchi. "Oh shut up, that over-the-top annoying attitude of yours, is disgusting." He then walked away, ready to start, everyone else followed his lead. 

"And enthusiasm won't make you any taller!" He shouted, prepared to serve. "If you think tying hard is all you need to succeed, you are sorely mistaken."

"I've got this!" Tanaka yelled as the ball went flying towards him after the serve.

Hinata and Tanaka both started yelling at Kageyama, trying to get him to set them. Shima stood next to Hitoshi, also getting ready to block.

"Can you even block?" He asked.

"You'll see." He said, but there was a little waver to his voice, almost as if he was unsure of his answer.

"Tanak-" Kageyama was cut off as Hinata yelled for him. He was already in the air, just waiting for the set.

"I'm here!" He shouted, Kageyama set towards him. Hitoshi jumped to block him as Shima jumped to block Tanaka, just in case it was a decoy. The set was too fast for Hito, so he wasn't able to fully block it.

"Heh, I almost jumped at nothing, but it's out." Hinata said.

"What the hell was that for?!" Kageyama yelled.

"The ball came right towards me! I don't care about what happened in middle school. I'm grateful for any set that comes my way. I just want the ball, I'll jump anywhere, I'll hit any ball believe me! Give me a set, and I'll hit it!" 

"I thought you said you could block?" Tsukishima said, walking towards Hitoshi as Tanaka yelled about quick attacks.

"I didn't expect the set to be that fast!" He tried to defend himself, but it didn't exactly work.

"I should've guessed a shorty like you could never block." He 'tsk'ed.

"No one can block, receive, spike, set, or serve perfectly every time, there's going to be mistakes. You messed up a block anyways, so why are you upset with me?" Shima didn't respond, he just walked away.

"I believe you can block, Hito-kun!" Yamaguchi exclaimed, cheering him up.

"Thanks, Yama!"

"Not very regal of you, Sire!" Tsukishima called out to Kageyama.

"You're going to pay for that, I promise you!" Hinata said.

"Look at that, getting all bent-out-of-shape, again? You can't just bulldoze your way over everything, you know that right? Not everyone is a good fit for every job, ya know. I mean you're clearly not cut out to be a spiker." Tanaka went to punch Tsukishima, but was stopped by Daichi grabbing his wrist. "And you," he turned towards Hitoshi, "are not meant to block."

"You're right," Hinata interrupted. " In middle school, even now, no matter how much I jump I always get blocked, height is important for volleyball. You can't always jump real high to make up for being short like me or Hitoshi-kun, but still, that never stopped me from wanting to be a spiker! I don't care whether I'm cut out for it or not, I'll do the best I can with what I got, and I'll win! I'm on this court and I'm not going anywhere." Tsukishima sighed.

"Did you even listen to a word I said? It doesn't really work that way, you can't just substitute spirit for height, unless you want to be a libero, that is."

"I open up the wall for the spiker," Kageyama said, going to stand next to Hinata, "that's the setters job."

Everyone looked surprised, but Tsukishima did not look pleased. Kageyama then dragged Hinata away so that Tsukishima's team couldn't hear what they said.

The three first years got back into position, Tsukishima still being up to serve. He hit it, the ball going towards Hinata who revived it and sent the ball to Kageyama, he then set the ball for Hinata but he wasn't able to hit the ball.

~~~~~~

"Let's go! One point!" Yama yelled.

Hitoshi served the ball, sending it to Tanaka, he perfectly revived the ball and sent it to Kageyama. Hinata was already making his approach towards the net. 

Hinata spiked the ball before any of them could even react. "I....touched the ball!" Hinata yelled while laughing hysterically.

"Guys, he did that with his eyes closed!" Hitoshi said. Everyone was confused and shocked at what Hinata had done.

"What..? No way!" Shima said. 

"From the moment his feet left the floor to the second he swung his arm, his eyes were closed. Kageyama just made a pinpoint toss into Hinata's hand, but Hinata wasn't even looking at the ball. I don't know how he did it, but his timing was perfect." Daichi continued for Hito.

"That's awesome! Guys, I don't know what happened but I just hit something!Did you see that?! Huh?!" Hinata yelled.

Most of the team was in so much shock that they really didn't register anything said after that.

The serve was up and Hitoshi was ready to block if needed. Kageyama set it, but Hinata missed, so it hit him in the face. Now the score was 15-22 with the three first years in the lead.

"I'm not buying it. That had to be a one-time thing. Why are they still trying it?" Shima said.

Tadashi served and the opposite team received it no problem. The ball went to the setter and Hinata ran towards the net. 

Tsukishima called for Yamaguchi's help while Hitoshi stayed back and was ready to receive. It had looked like Hinata was about to spike but before he jumped he ran to the other side of the blockers, causing them to follow, but they weren't fast enough and the spike got through.

Hitoshi wasn't able to dig the ball so it fell, giving Hinata's team a point.

"Yes!" The duo yelled.

~~~~~~

Kageyama again set the ball and the duo both did their quick attack, Tadashi wasn't able to receive it correctly so the other team earned a point. _They might take this set..._

Kageyama set, but both of their spikers approached the net. _The logical decision would be to block Hinata seeing as the set could go to him, but you should always make sure to block the others!_ While Tsukishima went to block Hinata, Hitoshi attempted to block Tanaka. He had gotten enough height for a block, but it broke through and hit their side of the court.

The whistle blew, signaling the end of the set. "Damn it," Hito muttered under his breath as Tanaka took his shirt off, again, and proceeded to trash-talk.

"Why are you doing more trash-talk than Hinata is?"

"Yeah, without the first years you wouldn't have been able to make that hit."

"Stop getting so cocky!"

"Keep your clothes on!" 

The other second year, Sugawara and Daichi yelled at Tanaka.

"Look, I don't need any more smart remarks from the peanut gallery." Tanaka yelled back. The other three were getting water and towels.

"Time for the second set!"

Yamaguchi attempted to spike while Hitoshi set for him, but his attack was blocked by Kageyama, giving them a point. _They're already ahead._

When Tsukishima spiked, it hit Hinata in the face. _That had to hurt. Oh, we're even now, 10-10._

Kageyama was going to set the ball to Tanaka but ended up going with a setter dump. When Hitoshi had landed from his block, he slipped and landed on his foot wrong, he hissed in pain slightly but ignored it and continued to play.

Tsukishima took off his sweater and made his way back on the court. Kageyama's team was at match point and Hito's ankle was now almost screaming in pain, but he was determined to finish the game.

Hinata spiked the unmarked, ending the set and winning the game for his team. Hitoshi attempted to stand in after he dived for the ball but he fell shortly after.

"Hito, are you okay?!" Yamaguchi asked, rushing to help his friend up.

"I'm fine honestly." He said as Yamaguchi helped him walk to a chair that Kiyoko had set up.

"No you're not, you're hurt." Said Sugawara.

"What happened?" Asked Daichi. No response. "Hitoshi, this is serious."

"Nothing I'm fine!"

"Cut the crap and tell me what happened, we want to help you, but you have to tell us what's wrong, if you don't that could lead to things getting worse in the future." Hitoshi gave up.

"I fell on my foot wrong when I blocked." He mumbled.

"How long have you been covering this?!"

"Since Kageyama's team was at 13 points in the second set, when he pulled the setter dump." Kiyoko began to take off his shoe and sock so they could see the injury. 

"Tsk, idiot." Shima said, not intending for anyone to hear, but Hito ended up hearing it anyways.

"Sorry, Shima. I didn't want to let my team down because of a stupid injury."

"If you didn't want to let your team down then you should've gotten it taken care of in the first place."

"It's just a bruise, so it should be okay in 10 days, try to stay off of it as best you can without crutches." Said Kiyoko, placing an ice pack on his ankle.

Sugawara ruffled Hitoshi's hair, "You can still go to practice and any games we have, you'll just have to sit on the sidelines and not play."

Hitoshi nodded, understanding, and glad he was allowed to go to practice still.


	6. *Pink Panther Theme Song*

"Tsukishima," Hinata said, walking towards him, he held out his hand.

"What now?"

"You're supposed to shake hands before and after a game. I guess we kinda skipped the first part, and though I really don't like this at all, you're my teammate now." He didn't get a reaction out of Shima.

"Just do it. Look I know it's awkward, but take it from me, if you can't play nice with your teammates these guys will kick you right out of the gym."

"Look, I know I wasn't around when it happened, but I'm pretty sure that was because you disobeyed the captain and picked a fight, and knocked the vice principal's toupee right off."

"He's right, Sho!" Hitoshi yells from his spot on the stage. Tadashi had helped him move over there so he would be closer to the other first years.

"You...you don't have to get into the details." Hinata said. He then started to jump around, while Yamaguchi and Tsukishima moved out of the way, trying to shake Shima's hand. He did this all while yelling 'shake my hand'.

"Shima, just let it happen." Hinata then grabs Tsukishima's hand, shaking it firmly.

"I'm so sorry that happened, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi said as Tsukishima held out his hand as if just touching Hinata would make him short.

"Tsukishima," Daichi said, walking up to him, "so what did you think, did you have some fun?"

"It wasn't anything special." He said putting his hand back down towards his side. "They have the King, who's from an elite school. A bunch of lowly commoners like us never stood a chance and you know it."

"Really? It seemed like a big deal to you. You fought pretty hard out there. Here," He said, handing Shima the sweater he had taken off during the game. Tsukishima grumbled but took the sweater anyway.

"Captain!" Hinata yelled, startling everyone.

"Yes?" He asked, turning towards Hinata and Kageyama. They both had their club application forms held out in front of them. He took the forms from them both and looked at them before yelling out for the manager. 

"Kiyoko!" The girl looked at him, humming out in question. "They should already be here right?" She nodded in confirmation.

Hito looked to the captain, confused. "What's here, Daichi-san?" 

"Yeah, what is it?" Hinata asked. He just nodded his head toward Kiyoko, who was coming back to the group with a box in hand. Hito slid on the stage over to where everyone was crowding around the mystery box, trying to get a glimpse of what was inside.

Kiyoko opens the box, revealing black jackets with Karasuno High School Volleyball Club written on the back in white with kanji lettering. Everyone grabbed one and Kiyoko handed one to Hitoshi, he muttered out a small thanks before trying it on.

"I'm fairly sure I got the right sizes, let me know if you need replacement." She said before putting the box back up in the supply closet.

"Woah, looking good!" Tanaka said while Hinata showed off his jacket, making different poses in it. 

"Yeah, I agree, it really suits you!" Suga said.

"On behalf of the Karasuno Volleyball Club...." Daichi started putting on his jacket and standing with the rest of the older members, "Welcome to the team!" They yelled in sync.

"Thanks!" The trouble-duo said. 

"Hey Hito, how're you doing over here?" Yamaguchi wandered over to Hito. 

"Okay, I wish I could actually do something with you guys too."

"Hm... Oh! I've got an idea! Why don't you get on my shoulders?"

"Are you sure I wouldn't be too heavy?"

"I'm sure! Hop on; it'll be fun!" Hito just smiled wearily, moving to grab onto Yamaguchi's hands. He hopped onto his shoulders from his spot on the stage; almost knocking the both of them over. 

"Ah! I'm sorry!" 

"It's fine!" Yamaguchi lightly laughed, walking over to the side of the volleyball net; where the other first years (and Tanaka) were.

"Hey, Shima! Look, I'm taller than you now!" Hito yelled, using his hand to compare their heights. Tsukishima 'tsk'ed and rolled his eyes.

"Ay! Strike a pose!" Tanaka was showing them how to do the 'welcome to the team' pose. Hinata excitedly followed his upperclassmen.

"Good! Now try this one!" He said, showing another pose.

"Yeah? Like that?" Hinata said while copying him. Kageyama follows a little confused and uninterested. Tanaka started talking about starting a 'volleyball street gang' or something. 

Hito was thinking about how he was going to get home. _I could call Tarō to come pick me up, but he's probably doing schoolwork, dad is on a business trip and has our only car so mom isn't able to come and get me. Plus mom is at work so she won't be able to pick up her phone if I called...._

"Hey Hinata! Less talking, more practicing. Let's run through the quick attack again while you're still remembering how." Kageyama said.

"Okay!"

"Throw the ball over here Tanaka!" 

"What?! Aren't you guys tired?" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, we did just play a game!" Hito said. 

Just then, the door opened. "Hey! We got it! We got something!" The person said. He looked disheveled, almost as if he had run all the way here.

Yamaguchi places Hito down but still lets Hito lean against him for support.

"A...a practice game. With one of the areas top 4. Aobajohsai High School!"

"Bluecastle?" Suga said, amazed. 

"Come on." Shima sounded disinterested, but Hito caught the small bit of amazement that he heard.

"No way..." Yama said. Hito sighed, disappointed. _There goes my chance to play against a top 4 team..._

"A practice game with one of the top 4?!" Hinata yelled.

"Aobajohsai, huh?" Kageyama said.

"Oh, it's you two. You just be Hinata and....Kageyama, right?" Green Jacket- _I'm going to call him 'green jacket', until I know his name, of course_.-said.

The freak duo whispered among themselves. 

"My name is Itettsu Takeda, I'm your club advisor." He said. _Aw, there goes my nickname for him._

"Hey." They said in sync.

"I'm clueless about this game, so I can't coach you on your technique. But I promise I'll do my best to help you guys out in any way I can!"

"Uh, sure." _How do they keep taking in sync like that? It's weird._

"So what's up?" Daichi asked, walking over to Takeda along with Sugawara.

"Oh, yeah. The game. Aobajohsai, or Bluecastle as some people call it, was the only school who said yes." He said, placing a hand behind his head.

"That's crazy!" Suga said with wide eyes. "How did you get us a game with a team like them?"

"Wait, did you go bowing on your hands and knees again?" Daichi interrupted.

"No, not at all," he said, waving his hand in front of his face, "I am good at begging, but I didn't have to this time!" The two sighed in relief.

"Although, there is one little condition."

"Condition?"

"Kageyama has to be a setter for the entire game." Suga and Kageyama both looked surprised.

"What the hell is that? So their not interested in playing against Karasuno, but they got some special beef with Kageyama. What are we, just some kind of joke to them? What's their deeaalll?" Tanaka asked.

Hito then stopped listening. _What's the point? I'm not going to be able to play anyways._ He registered the fact that it was going to be next Tuesday. 

They started gathering around Takeda, paying attention to what he had to say. Hito had Yamaguchi go ahead of him, so he was sitting on the floor, away from the group.

There was only going to be one game because it was after school, but Hito made a mental note to let Tarō know that he was going to be gone after school that day.

Once they were done talking, the group dispersed, Yamaguchi walked back over to Hitoshi to help him up. He muttered out a small thanks.

Sugawara started to walk over also, "Hitoshi, do you know how you're getting home?"

"I'd have to call my brother to see if he could get me, but besides that, nope. No idea."

"Alright, let me know once you find out." Hito nodded as Suga turned to walk back to Daichi. Yamaguchi helped him go back towards his bag so he could get his phone.

"Thanks, Yama." Hito smiled gratefully, which he had gladly returned. Yamaguchi then walked back to Tsukishima. 

Hito grabbed his phone scrolling to find his brother's contact. The phone rang before he heard Tarō pick up.

"What is it now, you intolerable ass pastry?"

"Listen here you fuck waffle, I may or may not have- keep in mind this might not have happened- gotten hurt at practice and now have no way to get home."

He heard a sigh come from the other side of the line, Hito laughed nervously.

"Heh, yeah..."

"What happened?"

"Long story short, I fucked up a block and fell on my ankle wrong and now it's bruised.....tadaaaa?"

"Well, you can't ride your cruiser, and I can't get you, I'm doing work right now and it'll take forever to get it done. You may have to stay at someone's house for the weekend."

"That's what I thought. Okay, well I'll see you Monday? Assuming I find someone to stay with...." He said, mumbling the last part.

"See you Monday, loser. Love you."

"I tolerate you too, dork. Bye." Hito laughed as he heard a gasp of fake hurt before he hung up. He turns to Yamaguchi.

"Okay. Tarō's busy with some of his medical schoolwork, Mom's at work, and Dad's on a business trip. So. I'm basically stranded."

"STRANDED?!" 

At this, Suga and Daichi walk over to the duo. 

"Maybe you could stay with one of the first-years?" Suga asks cautiously. 

"Well, Hinata's little sister is sick."

By now, the first years have gotten curious on why Hito's getting interrogated by the captain and vice-captain. "Yeah, Natsu's got a fever and keeps throwing up. It's not pretty."

"Kageyama?" Hito looks incredulously at Daichi before locking eyes with Kageyama. 

"No." They say in unison. This causes Suga to crack a smile.

"Yamaguchi?"

"My grandmother's visiting, I'm supposed to spend the weekend with her. Sorry!" Yamaguchi looks sheepish, a small smile on his face.

"That leaves..." Daichi turned his attention on Tsukishima. 

"Tsukishima." Suga finishes for him. This got the teen's attention, leading to him taking his headphones off. 

"Yes?"

"You're gonna have to take Hito for the weekend."

"What? Why me?" 

Hito stared at Tsukishima with a done look on his face. "Well, everyone else has something going on. You're the only first-year left."

"Yes. Besides Tsukishima," Daichi said forcefully. "You need to help your teammates out. You're not gonna abandon Hito, are you?" 

Daichi had the look your father would have when getting you in trouble in public. Tsukishima sighed. 

"Fine. Can you walk at all?" 

Hito looked down at his hands.

"If he could walk, he would be walking home." Kageyama said calmly; not quite watching his tone.

"Great. How are you getting to my house then?"

"You could give him a piggyback ride!" Yamaguchi said with a smile. "That way he can get there without pain!"

Hito looked up at Tsukishima. "Would... would that be okay?"

Tsukishima sighed. Guess I don't get a choice. "That'll be fine. Do you have your stuff?"

"Yeah, I can carry it on my back."

Tsukishima sighed again, turning around for Hito to climb on. "Get on, Shorty."

Hito looked helplessly at Yamaguchi before slowly clambering onto Shima's back. He nearly fell when Tsukishima started walking, instead choosing to tighten his grip on his shoulders. 

"Careful! I almost fell!" 

"Wouldn't that be a tragedy." Hito huffed, annoyed. He tucked his face into Tsukishima's shoulder, getting as comfortable as you could on someone's back.


	7. Not A Sleepover, Just A Forced Stay

"Sorry..." Hito apologized for what felt like the thousandth time. Tsukishima just grumbled in response and adjusted his grip on Hito. 

Hitoshi looked up at the night sky, mumbling the constellations he recognized.

"Can you stop that?" Shima asked, annoyed.

"Right, sorry." Tsukishima's steps soon fell into a rhythmic pattern, almost lulling Hito to sleep.

"Don't fall asleep on me." He swiftly mumbled out an apology, but he couldn't help the fact that Tsukishima was walking in a rhythm. Plus his music was really calming. 

"I mean it, no sleeping until we get home." Hito mumbled something out quietly, before laying his head on his shoulder and falling asleep. Tsukishima rolls his eyes, but doesn't slow down. _Why did I get stuck with Shorty?_

By this time, Tsukishima had reached his house. He kicked the door to knock; his brother opened up.

"Dude, we've talked about this. No dead bodies in the house." 

"He's not dead, he just bruised his ankle at practice. Captain put me in charge of taking care of him." 

"Oh boy, did he make a mistake."

"Yeah yeah, just open my door." Tsukishima followed his brother to the room, walking inside and kicking the door closed after him. He threw Hito on the bed, careful of his ankle. Hito shot awake, a look of fear on his face.

"Calm down, it's not that big a deal, you're fine."

"I know, I was just startled." What. was that? I mean, honestly, what was that for. I'm-

"I assume you need something to change into?" Tsukishima asks as he starts rifling through his drawer.

"Oh no, it's fine, I can just sleep in my clothes, it's really no big d-" Hito was cut off by a t-shirt and sweatpants being thrown at him. 

"You apologize too much." Hito looked down, embarrassed. "You can change in here, I'm gonna go get a snack." With that, Tsukishima left the room. Hito carefully pulled his shorts off, wincing as the fabric brushed against his ankle. He bunches up the fabric of the right leg of the sweatpants, gently slipping his foot through it. He shifted his weight, tugging on the other leg. Hito hunched over to roll the legs up, taking a solid 20 seconds for each.

He had just taken off his shirt when Tsukishima stepped back inside. 

"Why are you wearing a tank-top under your gym shirt?" Tsukishima asked without hesitation. (*cue heavy sigh from Hito... again... poor bean*) 

"I'll explain in a minute, just step outside." 

"Why? It's just a tank-top."

"Please, just step outside."

"Aww, is Shorty self-conscious? You really don't have anyth-"

"It's cause I'm trans, okay! You need to step outside so I can take my binder off!" This stunned Tsukishima for a solid 15 seconds, each one more anxious than the last for Hito. 

"Alright." Tsukishima stood up, looking back as he walked out the door. _I'm screwed..._

"Okay then..." Hito unhooked his binder, folding it next to his shorts. He tugged on the shirt, taking a second to look at the size difference. It wasn't a very large size difference because the shirt was baggy and he naturally had a smaller chest, but it was still noticeable. At least to him it was.

"Alright, you can come in!" Hito called softly, trying not to cower in fear of the judgment he could get.

Tsukishima walked in, he took one look at Hito and turned a bit pink. He turned his head slightly, trying to hide his blush from Hito.

"Did you want anything to eat?" Tsukishima asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Huh?"

"To eat. Did you want anything?"

"Oh...no, I'm good." And they then fell into another silence, but this one was different. It was as if there were unasked and unanswered questions hanging in the air, waiting for a chance to be voiced.

Tsukishima broke the quiet with one of those questions. "I thought binders were all kind of like crop-tops...?"

"There are different designs and styles you could get; one in a crop form or one that's more of a tank top."

"...why did you choose that one?" Hito looked down at his hands.

"It was the one easiest to-"

"You should look someone in the eyes when you speak to them. It's not that hard, is it?" Tsukishima cut him off again.

"It's harder than you think, you know."

"It can't be that hard, considering how much your friend talks." 

"People are different, Shima. Some of us have social anxiety."

"Anxiety can't be that bad."

"Anxiety can't be that bad? Really?"

"Yes, really. Everyone gets scared before a test, you know." 

"Okay, wow. Could you be any more _insensitive_?! Anxiety is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, which requires _prescription_ _medicine_ to fix. It affects not only your thoughts, but your physical and emotional health too. I get nausea and migraines and sore throats and coughing fits; I'm more at risk for depression, and suicidal _plus_ self harming thoughts and tendencies. I've been through hell from people like you who don't see it as an issue, who see it as _overreacting_ and making it up. You guys don't _listen_ or _think_ that maybe for a _moment_ , _just a moment_ , that not everyone is as lucky as you."

"I knew that you could stand up for yourself." Tsukishima broke the silence after a long pause.

"What?" Hito almost snaps at him.

"You just needed a push to go beyond your boundaries. And I never said it wasn't an issue. It was just one that you needed to see didn't control you." With that, Tsukishima dug through his drawers for pajamas.

"You...you..you.....ugh! I give up!" He threw his arms up in defeat while falling (dramatically) onto the mattress.

"Come on, we're getting something to eat." 

"I'm not hungry, so-"

"Too bad. I am, and you haven't eaten anything since practice. We're going downstairs to get food, and you're not changing my mind." At that Tsukishima threw his pajamas on the bed and sat down to get Hito on his back. Hito sighs in defeat before scooting over to the edge of the bed. Tsukishima hoists him onto his back, adjusting his weight before walking.

"We're gonna have to go down stairs, so hold on." _Stairs!? Okay, just hold on tight, I guess._ Tsukishima walked down his hall to the top of the stairs. Slowly, he put one foot down a step; then the other. He went slowly at first, but when he found a rhythm he went fast enough to scare Hito half to death. 

By the time they reached the bottom, Hito was scared for his life. Tsukishima only laughed a little, moving Hito's weight up higher on his back. Hito tucked his face into Tsukishima's neck, hiding from the world and all of its perils. 

"So, Kei, did you finally get a boyfriend?" Hito started to malfunction as Tsukishima set him down on the counter. "And he's wearing your clothes too ... you're growing up so fast."

"Get your mind out of the gutters, he just needs a change of clothes for the night. He bruised his ankle at practice, so he needs to stay for the weekend."

"Your boyfriend got hurt already?! You're not a very good boyfriend Kei." By now, expect Hito to have stopped working completely. He was hiding his face in his arms, hoping no one would talk to him.

"Akiteru, please. We're not dating, he's already hurt, please stop breaking Hitoshi." Hito mumbled out a muffled 'please'. Akiteru just laughed, moving to leave.

"No funny business tonight, alright?" 

"Akiteru..." Tsukishima groaned. The former laughed again, albeit quieter, and walked back to his room. Tsukishima started to mumble profanities before moving to make two bowls of fried rice. "He's having a field day because the only person I've brought over has been Tadashi." _That, and you can actually look good in my shirt._

"Here." Tsukishima handed Hito the bowl of rice along with some chopsticks. 

"Thanks for the food." They both said. Hitoshi hesitated a few seconds, and that was apparently a few seconds too long.

"Eat. I fixed the food, you have to eat it. You're not going back up to the room without eating." Hito just looked down before slowly lifting some rice up to his mouth. 

"It's good, thank you." Hito continued to slowly eat, Tsukishima keeping an eye on him to make sure he ate. By the time he was finished, Akiteru came back downstairs. 

"Still down here? You're not gonna leave him, are you Kei?"

"If I wanted to leave him, I would have left a while ago." Tsukishima took the bowl from Hito and placed it in the sink. He walked around to the counter before hoisting Hito onto his back. 

"Aw, how sweet, carrying your boyfriend up the stairs. Don't drop him, okay?" Tsukishima didn't even look back, trying not to smile as he felt Hito hide his face in Tsukishima's neck again. By the time they got to the top of the stairs Hito was drowsy again, eyelids feeling heavy. This time Tsukishima set him down gently, head up by the pillows. He took off Hito's glasses, placing them on the side table, before walking over to get his pajamas, setting them down before taking his shirt off.

At this point Hito turns over, trying to cool his face off. _Just don't think about it. Try to focus on sleeping... cause that's gonna work._

Tsukishima goes over to the other side of the bed, crawling in under the covers. He takes his glasses off and sets them on his side table, turning off the lamp. Hito turns back around, facing away from Tsukishima. He's unsure on how long he was laying there before he felt something sling across his waist. He slowly turned over, trying not to blush as he became face to face with a sleeping Tsukishima.

 _He's too big to push off, and there's no way I'm waking him up. I... guess I'm stuck._ Hito scooted down some, just enough so he could hide his face in the chest in front of him. He took a couple of steadying breaths, trying not to freak out. Eventually, Hito's breathing slowed and he drifted out of consciousness. 

"Kei? I haven't seen you, are you ok- oh!" Tsukishima's mother walked quietly into the room, smiling at the sight of her son and Hito asleep in each other's arms. "I guess that you're okay after all." 

Akiteru walked in after his mother, smiling softly at the pair. "He says they're not dating. They met at practice on Monday." Akiteru pulled out his phone, taking a quiet picture of the two. The flash caused Hito to stir, which then caused Tsukishima to pull him tighter. "There's no way that those two aren't gonna end up dating. No way." 

"Don't try to play matchmaker for him, Akiteru. He's perfectly capable of finding his own boyfriends." 

"I'm calling it now, those two are gonna end up dating. He's just too sweet for Kei to resist, whether Kei realizes it now or not." All of the talking slightly wake Tsukishima up, causing him to start mumbling:

"Idiot Shorty, you need to take better care of yourself..." he trailed off, leaving Akiteru laughing quietly.

"Apparently Kei feels responsible for him too." 

Akiteru's mother ushered her son out of Tsukishima's room, leaving a half-awake Tsukishima behind. He looked down at the boy in his arms, smiled tiredly, and fell back asleep. 

~~~~~~

Tsukishima woke up the next morning with a groan. He looked down at the boy in his arms, rolled his eyes, and gently untangled himself from Hitoshi. He pulled the covers back on Hito before walking down the stairs. 

"So, that cuddling doesn't mean your dating. That's the story you're going with?" Tsukishima just rolled his eyes, staring at his brother uninterested.

"I was asleep, I had no control over my actions. Besides, at least I have someone to... _cuddle_... with." Akiteru just placed his hand over his heart like he was shot.

"You wound me, Kei." By this point, Tsukishima had gotten a glass of water and was starting up the stairs again. When he opens the door, he finds Hito sitting up on the bed, one hand wiping at his eye. Tsukishima busied himself with picking up Hito's glasses from the spot where they fell on the floor, telling himself that he was not blushing at someone he just met. 

"I brought you water, I figured that you'd be thirsty." Hito smiles gratefully, making tiny grabby hands toward it. Tsukishima smiled slightly, causing Hito to notice what he did. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm still so tired, I wasn't thinking-"

"It's okay." _It's kinda cute, but he won't hear that._ Tsukishima handed him the glass, folding the glasses and placing them on the bed beside Hito. "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept better than usual, thanks. How about you?" 

"I slept well. What do you mean by 'better than usual?'"

"I usually don't sleep that much ‘cause of yelling. I'm sensitive to noise, I mean! Not that there's a lot of yelling!" Hito was panicking now, trying not to give too much away.

Tsukishima just hums in acknowledgement, keeping the worry off of his face. He motions for Hito to climb on his back, who obeys quickly. He buried his face in Tsukishima's neck once again as they went downstairs. 

"Mom went out with friends, and Akiteru said he was going to hang out with his friend Tarō."

"Tarō?"

"That's what I said."

Hitoshi sighed, sounding a bit disappointed. "Of course that's my brother." 

"Really? You're related to the same Tarō that graffitied the crows on the side of the Sakanoshita Store?"

"Yeah, then he came home and got paint all over my door." Tsukishima looked incredulously at Hito. _This... small child... is related to Tarō?_ "Do you have any plans for what we're gonna do today?" 

"Well, considering the fact that it's raining and your... _injury_ ; we could watch movies." 

"Alright. What kind of movies?"

"The Jurassic line, The Lion King, probably a couple others." Hito just nodded, smiling slightly. 

"The Jurassic line? Like the Dilophosaurus and Spinosaurus on your dresser?"

"You know their names?" Tsukishima asked with genuine interest.

"That's... besides the point."

"No, I think that's pretty relevant to the conversation." Hito just groaned and hid in Tsukishima's neck again (not that he minded), nuzzling the crook where his neck met his shoulder.

He carefully set Hito on the couch, sitting him down against the arm. He then grabs two blankets, draping one over Hito and the other on his seat. Shima goes up and puts in the first Jurassic Park movie. 

He grabs the remote, setting it down on his blanket. He walks to the kitchen, starting to make popcorn. By the time he walked back, Hito was cuddled under his blanket, leaning against his arm laying on the arm of the couch. 

By the time they finish the series, it's late afternoon. Tsukishima gets up, putting in _The Lion King_. When Mufasa dies, Hito tears up a little; causing Tsukishima to laugh slightly.

"Are you really crying because a _lion_ died?" Hito reaches over and weakly punches Tsukishima's arm.

"I've never seen this before, leave me alone." Hito quickly swiped at the tear running down his face, missing by quite a bit. Tsukishima just chuckles, reaching over to rub the tear off of Hito's cheek.

"There." Hito immediately turns red, looking away from a smug Shima. "Pay attention, the next bits important." After The Lion King, Tsukishima got up and put in a mystery movie. 

"What's up next?" 

"You'll have to wait and see, won't you?" Hito just huffed, pouting a little. 

_He had no business being that... cute?_ Slightly surprised at his thoughts, Tsukishima turned his attention back to the movie.

After a few seconds, the title page came up.

"Pet Sematary? A _horror movie_?" 

"What, can't handle it?"

"I've never seen one, Shima. I don't _know_ if I can handle it!"

"In that case, I would keep the blanket nearby." 

Not even halfway through the movie, Hito is shaking. He's trying not to yell, and is trembling with the effort of staying quiet. Tsukishima looks over, sighing at the sight of a terrified Hito. He moves the blanket some, pulling Hito onto his lap. 

"What?" Hito blinked, and the next thing he knew he was on Shima's lap and under his blanket. He looked up, but Shima wasn't looking at him; only at the TV. Hito let out a sigh of relief, leaning unconsciously into Tsukishima's chest. By the next ten minutes, Hito was hiding in Shima's chest. Said beanpole only tightened his grip on Hito, leaning over slightly to completely encase him. 

"The rain's getting worse." Tsukishima noted just as a clap of thunder sounded. Hito squeaked, burrowing in Shima's chest. "Are... are you afraid of storms?"

"Of course I'm not afraid of storms, that's sill-" Hito gets cut off by another clap of thunder, causing him to yelp and tense up. "Maybe..." he quietly answers from his spot buried in Tsukishima's chest. Tsukishima just rolled his eyes, chuckling quietly. He pulled Hito closer, moving Hito to rest his head on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine, I won't let anything get to you." Both Hito and Tsukishima flushed slightly at those words, the pair both trying to hide from the other. 

"Is the movie almost done yet?" Hito's muffled voice asked. 

"About twenty more minutes." A strike of lightning followed by another clap of thunder. Hito tensed, causing Tsukishima to lay his head on Hito's for comfort. "You know, let's not tell anyone about this." 

"You say that like anyone would believe me." 

"Tadashi would."

"Yama would absolutely die if he heard you were being nice to anyone." A thirty-second clap of thunder rolled through the house, shaking Hito to the bone. He started to tear up, Tsukishima feeling it through his shirt started to shush Hito softly, swaying back and forth softly.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. Nothing can get to you, I'm right here, you're safe with me. We can go upstairs if you want, or we can stay down here. What do you think?"

"H-here, please." He answered softly, gripping Tsukishima's shirt tighter. Said tree smiled slightly, shifting Hito so he was almost straddling Shima (while staying mindful of his ankle).

"Here then. Hold on a second." Tsukishima spun around, putting his feet on the couch. He shifted Hito to beside him, keeping him close enough to him so he won't fall off. "How's this?"

Hito burrowed into Shima's chest, who in turn tangled their legs. _To save space._ Tsukishima tried to convince himself. _Not because I want to._

"This is great, thank you." By now, Hito is getting tired. He's fallen into a dream-like state.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Hito." Tsukishima said teasingly. Hito just groaned.

"'m sleepy, 'm gonna sleep." Tsukishima just shook his head with a fond smile on his face. 

"Alright, Shortcake." He says quietly.

"Hm, what was that?" Tsukishima slightly panics, his words rushing out faster than he'd like.

"It's nothing, Shorty. Just go to sleep." Hito hums before closing his eyes and falling into a dreamless sleep. _God Shortcake, you don't know what you do to me..._

Within ten minutes of Tsukishima playing with Hito's hair, Shima had fallen asleep as well. 

"Hello? You guys here?'

"I've brought your medicine." Tarō follows Akiteru inside, closing the door behind him. They took off their shoes before walking in, Akiteru leading the way to the living room. 

Tarō gasped in surprise, "I didn't think you were right!"

"I _told_ you I had caught them cuddling!"

"Tsukishima doesn't seem like the kind of kid to _hug_ someone, let alone _cuddle_ with someone." 

"I know, he must really like Hito to even go _anywhere_ near him."

"Well, Hito is an exceptional kid. However..."

"However?"

"This is really great blackmail, you get what I'm saying?"

"I think so." Akiteru smirked while pulling out his phone. They both took pictures of the two cuddling. 

"Wait til Dion sees this..."

~~~~~~

Tsukishima woke up to a sleeping Hito in his arms, he sighed and looked at the time. _It's only 8:30...? We only slept for two hours. I thought it was longer..._

Hito grumbled tiredly and burrowed his face further into Shimas chest, mumbling out a small 'warm' before going back to sleep. Tsukishima smiled lightly.

"Still not dating, huh?" Akiteru asked sarcastically from his spot in a chair.

"No, we're not. We just met a week ago." He said while getting up, picking Hito up bridal style to take him up to the room. Hitoshi cuddles further into his shirt, mumbling incoherently.

"Yeah, yeah. Just give it time. One day you'll find out I'm right." 

"Ha. You wish."

"Tarō said to give Hitoshi this when he wakes up." His brother said, moving off topic while handing Tsukishima a bottle of prescription pills.

"What is it?" Akiteru just shrugged and walked into the living room. Tsukishima walked up the stairs towards his room and set Hito on the bed, covering him with the blanket. Hito stirred slightly and sat up shortly after.

He let his eyes adjust to the bright light before squinting at Tsukishima, who was looking at a bottle of something. What the bottle was, he couldn't tell.

"What time is it...?" Asked Hito, rubbing his eyes.

Tsukishima looked at the boy, "Around 8:30."

"In the morning?! We're late for school!" He exclaimed.

"No, we only slept for about two hours, school is tomorrow."

"Oh..." Tsukishima shook his head at Hito.

"I'm going to get dinner. I'll bring it up to you, and yes you have to eat; you haven't eaten anything but three pieces of popcorn all day." Hito just groaned and flopped backwards onto the bed as Tsukishima walked out of the room.

"Oh, so you're bringing food to your little crush now, are you?"

"We haven't eaten all day, and he's not my crush." 

"Of course he's not. You said you're not dating, which means you must have a crush on him. You wouldn't be this... _sweet_ , if you didn't." Akiteru smiled smugly.

"Aaaaaand I'm going now." Tsukishima said with a plate of sushi and two pairs of chopsticks. He walked to the stairs, pausing to say something; "How about you try to figure out your own non-existent love life, hm?" He turned away from an offended-looking Akiteru and started up the steps.

Tsukishima swung the door open, laying eyes on a half-asleep Hito. He scoffed, setting the food down on the side table before shaking Hito awake.

"You still have to eat before you can go to sleep again." Hito sat up slowly, carefully swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. 

"Wha-" He was interrupted by a yawn. "What'd you get?"

"Sushi. I brought you chopsticks." Tsukishima proceeds to hand over said chopsticks, setting the plate on the bed in front of them. 

"Thank you for the food." Hito stared at the sushi for a couple of minutes, a resigned look on his face. He didn't hear Tsukishima sigh, or even feel him take the chopsticks from himself.

"Here." He felt a gentle nudge on his lips. His eyes widened.

"Are you really-" He was cut off by the Tsukishima sticking the sushi in his mouth. Hito absentmindedly chewed, holding out his hand for the chopsticks.

"Are you gonna eat this time?" Hito nodded his head, shaking his hand more insistently.

"I don't believe you..." Tsukishima said teasingly, holding the chopsticks just out of Hito's reach. Hito gave up on trying to be nice, leaning over to try and grab them. Unfortunately, his hand slipped and he fell onto Tsukishima's chest, knocking them over. Both of their red faces were too close for comfort, eyes looking straight into the other's.

"Well well well... look at what we've got here..." Hito darted up, eyes darting to Akiteru leaning against the door frame. "And I thought Kei would be on top..."

"Akiteru." Tsukishima looked angrily at his brother.

"Oh sorry, am I interrupting something?"

"He. _Fell_."

"Oh sure, they all do." _I can see why Tarō likes him..._

"What did you want, anyway?"

"You didn't bring Hito any water for his pill."

Hito shifted his weight. "Pill? You mean my anxiety medicine?"

Tsukishima grabbed the pill bottle on the nightstand, handing it over to Hito. Akiteru walked in the room, handing over the glass of water.

"You see, Tarō didn't tell me what they were for. He was all ominous like. 'Give these to Hito or you're gonna have to answer to my wrath' blah, blah, blah. Your brother is such a _dork_ , Hitoshi."

"He can be, yes." A flustered Hito muttered out.

"Anyway, don't forget to take these. Sleep well, only sleep, okay thanks. See you tomorrow." Akiteru stopped at the door. "That's right, Tarō said he's gonna drop your uniform off tomorrow, because he totally didn't forget them." Akiteru smiled at the pair. "Have fun doing couple-y stuff or whatever."

Tsukishima shook his head, going back to eating the sushi. Hito was worse, hands shaking slightly in embarrassment. Tsukishima looked over, a sarcastic look on his face. "You really let that get to you? If Tarō is anything like Akiteru, then how have you survived?"

"I can get back at Tarō, I can't do anything about your brother!" Hito protests, still trying to get the chopsticks back (hopefully without falling this time). "Give 'em here!"

"I don't know, are you gonna fall again?"

"It was an accident!" 

"Alright, but if you don't eat I'm taking them back." Tsukishima handed the chopsticks to Hito, who took them indignantly. He picked up a piece of sushi, placing it in his mouth. He finished the bite, sticking his tongue out at Shima.

"I told you I'd eat." Tsukishima chuckled silently, picking up another piece. _He's such a child._

The duo had finished the sushi, Tsukishima taking the plate and the chopsticks downstairs. While he was gone, Hito had burrowed under the covers, bringing them over his head. Tsukishima walked in, stopping dead in his tracks at the human-sized lump in his bed. 

"You are such a child." 

"You don't mind though." Came the muffled reply from under the blankets. 

Shima walked around the bed, crawling in beside Hito. _You're right. I don't._

He twisted to turn off the lamp again, spinning away from Hito. "Goodnight Hitoshi."

Hito fell asleep, albeit restlessly. He tossed about slightly, a nightmare playing behind his eyelids.

_Hito woke up to the clicking sound of the lock on his door. He jolted upright, noticing a note taped on the door:_

_Dear Hito,_

_Your father had been mistreating your brother and you, and I will stand for it no longer. I am taking Tarō and running away. He begged me to take you, he really did, but he had so much untapped potential in his near future; I couldn't leave him behind. I'll come back for you one day, I promise._

_Love,_

_Mom_

_Hito scrambled over to his window, hearing faint yelling and a door slamming._

_He saw his mother holding a struggling Tarō's arm, all but dragging him towards the car._

_"TARŌ!" Hito yelled, banging his hands on the window. Tarō looked up, tears in his eyes. 'Please don't leave me, PLEASE!'_

_Tarō held a hand up to Hito, as if reaching him. He saw his father on the doorstep follow Tarō's line of sight, his scowl darkening at the sight of Hito._

_'I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU!' He saw Tarō's mouth, causing tears to stream down his face. He heard the door slam again, followed by the sound of someone stomping up the stairs. Hito looked around frantically, trying to find a place to hide; coming up empty._

_"SEIKA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! GET OUT HERE!" Hito started crying harder, panic overtaking his body. He heard the door handle jiggling, panicking more than he thought was possible._

_"NOOO, PLEASE NO!" He yells out, voice hoarse from crying._

_"You better get out here, or it's gonna get a lot worse for you." His father's voice was deadly calm, leaving a feeling of dread in Hito's stomach._

_"I CAN'T!" He called back, cowering in the corner._

_"Alright, you had your chance." Hito heard the key in the lock and saw the door crack open, a blood-curdling scream leaving his lips._

Hito jolted awake, eyes darting around the room; from the window to the door to the vent. He twisted around to look behind him before his eyes landed on Tsukishima. He breathed out a sigh of relief at seeing his friend; before jumping at a loud clap of thunder. _Not again, please not again-_

"Hito? Wha- what're you doin up?" A groggy Tsukishima said, feeling around his side table for his glasses. 

"I... I got too hot and it woke me up."

"Is-" He was stopped by a yawn, "is that the best you can come up with?" Hito looked at his hands, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I... "

"It's okay, Hito. You can tell me."

"I had another nightmare."

"Hm... anything I can do?"

"What?"

"I said: anything I can do?"

"You mean, you're not gonna ignore me?"

"Not when you're crying." Hito carefully placed his hand on his face, mildly surprised when it came away wet.

Hito took a deep breath. "I-I don't think I can sleep. What if- what if I dream about that again."

"What happened?"

"I don't really want to remember..."

"If you tell me, it'll go away. It works, trust me." There was a loud clap of thunder, causing Hito to whimper and cry a bit more.

"I... was left alone."

"Abandoned?"

He sighed softly, mumbling out a small 'yeah' that wouldn't really be heard unless you were listening. Tsukishima slowly starts taking his glasses off.

"Come 'ere." He opens his arms, waving his hands at Hito.

"Are you sure?" 

"I wouldn't do it if I wasn't sure." Hito gained a soft smile, crawling carefully into Shima's arms. 

"Thank you, Tsukishima."

"No problem, Shorty." He closes his arms around Hito, burying his face in his hair. Hitoshi's tears stained his shirt a little, but Tsukishima didn't mind.

"Goodnight Hito."


	8. Really, A-fucking-gain?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When text is in bold that means that they are speaking English.

The next day Tarō had brought Hito his clothes and Tsukishima's mom had driven the two to school, seeing as it was still slightly raining outside. 

Besides having to help Hitoshi to class, Tsukishima almost completely ignored him.

Once afternoon practice was over the two stood over a roofed area, Hito leaning against a wall for support.

"How are we getting back to your house?" Asked Tsukishima.

"Even though it's raining, we may have to walk. My brother rides a motorcycle; which can only carry a max of two people; plus I'm not allowed to legally drive it; and my dad is out on a business trip, so he has our only car. Unless your mom or brother could drive us..?"

"No. They're both out shopping and likely won't be back for hours."

Hitoshi sighed, "Looks like we'll have to walk..."

"Alright, then let's go."

"What?"

"Let's go, the sooner we leave, the sooner we'll get there. Come on, I'll carry you, seeing as you still can't walk." Tsukishima said, turning his back to Hitoshi, prompting him to get on his back. Hito gave up and got on Tsukishima's back.

Shima stepped out, the both of them getting drizzled in rain water. Tsukishima started walking in the direction of Hito's house; Hitoshi gave him small directions here and there.

"How much longer do you think it'll be, Shorty?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"About ten more minu-" Hito was cut off by a strike of lightning which was followed by a loud clap of thunder. Hitoshi squeaked and buried his face in Tsukishima's neck, tightening the grip he had on the tall blond.

Every few minutes there was a new lightning strike and thunder clap. Even though they were both already soaked, Tsukishima swore that Hitoshi was silently crying.

"We should be there soon, will you be okay?" Hito nodded slightly while tightening his grip even more. Tsukishima didn't seem to mind though, he even tightened his grip on Hito; trying to reassure him that he'll be okay.

They arrived at the house only a few moments later, Tsukishima knocked on the door, using his foot instead of his hand.

"I've got it Mom!" He heard someone yell from inside.

Tarō opened the door only to find his brother being carried by Akiteru's younger brother. Both were soaking wet, Hitoshi was sobbing into the taller's shoulder, and it only got worse as the thunder and lightning progressed.

"Come in." Tarō said, moving out of the doorway.

"Thank you," Tsukishima said. Hito looked up from the crook of his neck, checking his surroundings. He sniffled and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Tarō, who was it?" Called, what Tsukishima could only assume was their mom, from the living room.

"It's Hitoshi and his friend." He called back. "You might want to get some towels for them, they're both soaking."

"Okay! I'll get those now!" He saw their mom go upstairs. 

"So, what's your name again..?"

"Kei Tsukishima."

"Right, Akiteru's little brother. You can guess I'm Tarō Shota; Tarō please." Tsukishima hummed in confirmation.

"Here you go!" Said their mom, handing them the towels. Hitoshi got off his back, but still leant on Tsukishima for support, staying off his foot the best he could.

"Thanks, Mom." Hito mumbled.

"Thank you, Mrs. Shota."

"Oh, please. Just call me Rei." She said. "Hitoshi, you can show him to your room, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah."

Tsukishima bent down, implying Hito to get on his back, "Come on."

"N-no, it's fine, I can walk..."

"Hitoshi," The boy looks to his brother, "stop trying to push yourself beyond your limits, just let him carry you. You're still hurt." He mumbled out a meek 'okay' as he got on Tsukishima's back. Shima stood up and started walking towards the stairs.

"Up the stairs, it's the last door on the right." 

They walked into the room. "Wow, your room is small." Shima stated bluntly.

"O-oh, yeah...I guess it is." He said as Tsukishima set him on the ground. His room had a slanted ceiling with a window that if opened, would lead to the roof. His bed was only a twin size and was shoved against the wall, underneath the window, giving him a great view of the sky.

One of his walls was covered in posters of old bands and drawings. Against that wall there was a dark brown dresser which had books and other trinkets and things on top of it. He had a side table covered in papers of what Tsukishima assumed was homework, a few of the papers were sheet music and unfinished drawings. His side table also had a lamp and a single picture frame. It was a picture of Hito, Tarō, and three other people he didn't recognize, but they looked to be around the same age as Tarō. In the photo, Hito was younger than he is now, he looked to be about 11 or 12.

Above the side table there was a couple photos on the wall of what Tsukishima assumed to be his friends, he decided to gloss over the photos of Hito and Hinata. Hito didn't have a closet, just a small rack to put any jackets or things that wouldn't fit in his dresser. He also had a few plants here and there. Tsukishima was also 85% sure that Hito had things shoved under his bed.

"It's not much.., but I can't really help it. It's what I have." Hito was cleaning his fogged-up glasses with the towel, before putting them back on and moving to dry his hair. Suddenly Tsukishima's phone started to ring.

"Hello...... _what_ ?.......you're kidding..." He groaned in annoyance. "...fine...bye..." He hung up and looked at Hito, who was looking up at him with interest, his head tilted ever-so-slightly. "Apparently because of the storm I'm going to have to stay here for the night." _Why does he look cute...it's annoying_. Tsukishima thought.

"Oh, well I'll go let my mom know." Hito said, moving to get up.

"No, it's fine, I'll let her know, you stay here." Hito grumbled but let him leave anyway. When Tsukishima got back, Hito was on his knees digging through his dresser for dry clothes. 

"I'm sorry, I don't have any clothes that will fit you; you're gonna have to borrow Tarō's. _I_ can get them." Hito said insistently, moving away from the dresser and towards the door.

"No need, I brought him some." Tarō walked into the room, carefully maneuvering around the space. 

"You guys aren't gonna let me do anything, are you?" Hito whined, doing his whole, 'hiding in his hands' thing.

"Not if he's a good boyfriend he won't." Tarō's mischievous smile was hard to miss, leaving Hito a blushing mess.

"He's not my boyfriend, we met last Monday."

"Even so, he's taking care of you, _he brought you over on his back_ . **He's at least got a crush on you, Toshi."**

 **"He hardly likes me, Tarō; let alone has a** **_crush_ ** **on me!"**

**"So do you like him?"**

**"It's none of your business if I do!"**

**"So you** **_do_ ** **?"**

**"I wouldn't know, I've never had a crush!"**

"We're having a talk about this later."

"Ah, so you've changed back to the normal man's language." Tsukishima said, the look of slight confusion that was on his face disappearing.

"Well, Tsukishima, I didn't want to embarrass Hito too badly." Tarō says with a teasing smirk. 

Hito groans, practically turning into a strawberry.

"Ah, is little Hito embarrassed again? Wasn't Akiteru enough?" Tsukishima asked with his hand on his hip.

"He got to you too kid: "I thought Kei would be on top"? Remember?" Tarō said smugly.

"You weren't even there when that happened, how do _you_ know?" Hito whines loudly.

"There's this thing, it's called texting. You should try it sometime."

"Alright Tarō; please leave." Hito said desperately. 

"What, do you not wanna me to see Tsukishima protect you from the storm again?" 

"What do you mean, again?!" 

"I saw the two of you _cuddling_ on the couch!~" Tarō said in a sing-songy voice.

"We did not."

"I have a picture to prove it."

"Please no; thank you." Hito was carefully hopping, trying to push Tarō out of his room.

"Alright, alright, I'm going. **I'll send it to you later!** "

"TARŌ!"

Tarō laughed as he closed the door, sending a wink at Tsukishima. Tsukishima just walked over to the corner of the room, pulling his shirt off. Hito sat down, _intending_ to turn away. But he just stared at the muscles of Tsukishima's back while he pulled his shirt off. 

Tsukishima turned his head to the side, catching Hito's eye while smiling knowingly. Hito turned red as he realized what he was doing, slapping a hand over his mouth while spinning around. 

"Sorry!" He muffled out, leaving Tsukishima chuckling.

"You know, you may want to change too. You're still in your soaking uniform." Hito looked down at his clothes, quickly crawling back over to his dresser. He pulled out an oversized sweatshirt from Tarō and a pair of black sweatpants. He quickly took off his uniform and binder, slipping the new clothes on. He whimpered lightly and flipped the hood of his green hoodie up at a new clap of thunder; trying his best to hide.

Hito grabbed an extra pillow and blanket, quickly forming a place for him to sleep. Tsukishima turned back around, taking one look at Hito's arrangement before picking him up bridal style.

"Yeah, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. Get up here." He says as he tosses a laughing Hito onto the twin bed.

"There's not enough space, and you're not sleeping on the floor."

"Who said I was sleeping on the floor?" Shima smirked as he crawled in beside Hito, sandwiching him between the wall and his body. He curled around Hito, pulling his back against his chest. "There."

Hito's dying, trying not to tense up. "Hey, Hito?"

"Yes?"

"What's with the smell of alcohol?"

"Um..." Tsukishima just looks down at Hito expectantly, giving him a couple minutes to come up with an answer.

"Obviously you can't come up with an excuse, mind telling me the reason?"

"...My dad drinks. More than he should."

"I thought he was on a business trip?"

"He is." 

"How long has he been gone?"

"He left on Saturday."

"Three days ago?"

"Yeah." Tsukishima looks at Hito in astonishment, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. _The smell's still around?_ Tsukishima settles down behind Hito again, burying his face in Hito's hair again.

Tsukishima pulls Hito tighter against him, Hito resting his hands on Shima's arm. A clap thunder was heard again, Hito tensing in Shima's arms. 

"I'm right here, nothing's gonna get you; I promise." Hito smiled slightly, tightening his grip on Shima's arm. In a few minutes the twig fell into a sleepy state; not quite asleep, but definitely not completely awake.

"Well well. **Totally doesn't have a crush on you. You can tell, the way he seems to hate holding on to you."**

"Tarō, **what do you want?"** Hito groaned out, trying to hide his red face. Tsukishima unconsciously tightened his grip around Hito at the foreign words; which was not helping Hito's case.

"Akiteru **was right. You both are oblivious as hell."**

 **"I'm not oblivious; there's nothing to notice!** " A clap of thunder sounded, causing Hito to unconsciously retreat back into Shima. Tarō laughed quietly.

**"You seem to like being protected by your boyfriend."**

**"He's not my boyfriend; he's a jerk at school; he completely ignored me today!"**

**"And yet, seemingly no hesitation, at all, at the prospect of cuddling you. I know you, you didn't start this. You're too shy. Therefore, he had to have been the one to start cuddling you. You probably wanted to sleep on the floor or something."**

**"I wasn't gonna make him share such a small bed with me!"**

**"He doesn't seem to be complaining."**

"Mm, stay." Tsukishima mumbles into a moving Hito, right on cue. Hito glances back over his shoulder, a small smile on his face.

**"Case. In. Point."**

**"What did you want?"**

"Mom said to remind you to take your medicine; it's 8:30ish."

"Hand it here?"

"Yeah, **wouldn't want to break up the happy couple."** Hito just groans as his brother laughs, carefully handing Hito the pill bottle. He places it back on the dresser once Hito's done, sending one last pointed look towards Hito before carefully shutting the door behind him.

Hito hears Tsukishima groan slightly. He flips around carefully before burrowing into his chest. He takes a deep breath before slowly relaxing; falling asleep within minutes.

~~~~~~

Tsukishima woke up to the loud noises of people yelling, Hitoshi walking up shortly after.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'SHE'S RUNNING OUT OF MEDICINE'!? WE GOT IT FILLED THIS MONTH!"

" _HE_ HAS TO TAKE IT EVERYDAY!" Hito scrambled to get up and change into his uniform, not caring about his ankle anymore. 

" _SHE_ WOULDN'T HAVE TO TAKE MEDICINE IF MY DAUGHTER WASN'T _BROKEN_!"

The yelling continued as Tsukishima slowly got up, confused, his eyes following Hitoshi's every panicked movement. "Shorty? What's going on?"

"HE IS YOUR _SON_ AND HE'S NOT BROKEN!"

He paused for a second, looking at Tsukishima as if he just remembered he was there. "N-nothing..." He stuttered just as the yelling got louder, causing him to flinch.

"It doesn't sound like 'nothing', Hitoshi." Hito wiped at his eyes, trying to make sure Tsukishima didn't see the tears that he was hoping didn't start running down his face.

"Really, it's nothing, just get dressed." Tsukishima confusedly obeyed, changing into his, now dry, school uniform. Hito opened his window hoisting himself onto the roof.

"Come on, Tarō will hand us our shoes on our way out."

"Hey, don't do that! You'll hurt yourself!" He said, climbing out the window after him. He saw Hito slide down the roof carefully before swinging his legs over the edge and jumping down to the other roof that covered the first story of his house. 

Tsukishima followed his example, and then did the same thing on the second roof to make it to the grass.

"Here, shoes." Tarō said hurriedly, shoving the shoes at Hito and Tsukishima. 

They quickly threw them on; Hito almost running away, Shima hurrying after him. About 3 minutes later, Hito sat down to catch his breath. He gently felt around his ankle, wincing at every slight movement.

"How did you know how to do that so quickly?" Tsukishima asked, accusatory. He glances down at Hito before heaving a sigh; looking at him, Hito had a few strained tears sliding down his face.

"Come 'ere. I'm carrying you again." Hito didn't even protest, making grabby hands at Shima.

He gently picked Hito up; carefully swinging him around to rest on his back.

"Can... can you bring me to the Sakanoshita store? I know one of the owners, he'll think something's wrong if I don't show up by 6:00."

"He'll think something's wrong if you show up on my back."

"He won't question it; I can get him to wrap my ankle." Tsukishima sighs before starting off in the direction of the store. About twelve minutes later they showed up, Tsukishima opening the door. Hito had to cross his legs before he fell off, scrambling slightly as Shima laughed.

Ukai looks up from his magazine, doing a double-take when he saw his usual customer on the back of a blond hair tree.

"Yang? I knew something was up, you're late. What happened this time?" _This time!?_ Shima thought with mild surprise.

"Going on the roof with an already bruised ankle and three minutes of running." Ukai sighed softly, walking over to the compression bandages; picking one off of the rack.

"Shoe off, which foot?"

"Right." Tsukishima set Hito down on the counter, moving to take his shoe off for him.

Ukai sat in his chair, gently moving Hito's foot until it was in front of him, and carefully started to wrap his foot.

"So Blondie, you have anything to do with this?" 

"No, I was the one to carry him here after all."

"That doesn't mean anything; Yang's seen his fair share of trouble, and then some. For all I know, you're the one who bruised his ankle in the first place." 

Tsukishima stayed quiet, instead keeping a watchful eye on Hito's expressions. He resisted the urge to grab his hand in comfort, instead busying them by fixing his school uniform.

Hitoshi took a sharp breath of pain, biting the inside of his cheek to distract him. A few seconds later his mouth was filled with a metallic taste. _Blood_... He thought. 

"Hey Blondie, can you get Yang here his regular? Get some pain meds too. I'm almost done wrapping it, but I want him off of it as long as possible."

"Tch. I guess. What am I getting?" Hito gave him instructions between labored breaths, trying his best to keep from worrying Tsukishima. (Hint, It's not working) Ukai finished the wrap, gently sliding the shoe back on.

"I'll pay for it, Shorty; you didn't have time to grab your money anyway."

"No need, it's on the house today. No arguing about it, got it?" Ukai said with a pointed look on his face.

"But-"

"Hitoshi, what did I just say?" Ukai asks playfully; having seen how scared Hito gets when someone raises his voice at him. Said smol bean just sighs, taking the bag with the stuff in it. "Take the medicine when you get to school, alright? Blondie, if he doesn't do it willingly, make 'em."

Tsukishima just dutifully nodded, turning around to let Hito on his back again. Hito didn't protest, instead slipping the bag around his wrist and hopping on. He crossed his legs in advance this time, and in a few moments the door behind them.

"It hurts..." Hito calls randomly, Tsukishima feeling a few tears soaking through his uniform.

Tsukishima sighed. "I know..."

It was a five minute walk to school, leaving them with extra ten minutes before practice. About one minute away, Tsukishima set Hito down on a bench. He had tears in his eyes, wiping them away as fast as he could. 

"I can see it in your eyes. The panic. What's gotten you so scared, Hito?" Tsukishima had kneeled down in front of Hito, one arm on each knee.

"I just....just want the pain to stop, I don't want to get hurt again." Hito choked out, trying to keep from sobbing. Both Tsukishima and Hitoshi both knew he wasn't just talking about his ankle.

"Don't worry, Hito. I'll take care of you, okay? I promise, nothing's gonna get to you; I won't let anyone get to you. Not even your dad, okay? I promise."

Hito by now is full on sobbing, hands over his mouth. Tsukishima takes a quick look around before carefully pulling Hito closer to him, one hand behind the smaller boy's head.

"It's okay. It's okay, nothing's gonna hurt you. Nothing." They stayed like that for ten minutes, Hito's crying slowing to a stop. Tsukishima pulled back so he could see Hito's tear stained face. "Okay. See? Nothing's gonna get to you as long as I'm around, okay?"

Hito just nods, eyes shifting to his feet. Tsukishima wasn't having it, instead using his knuckle to lift Hito's head back up.

"Don't look ashamed on me; you have nothing to apologize for. Just take deep breaths, then we can head to practice."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you can leave, I'm making you late-"

"I said _we_ , didn't I?" Tsukishima sat next to Hito on the bench for a few minutes before Hito sat up straight with a deep breath. "That's my boy." He mutters just under his breath. He grabs the pill bottle out of the bag, making Hito take one before he lets Hito get on his back.

"Alright. I'll explain to Captain what happened alright?"

"Please don't, I don't want to worry them-"

"You worry too much. I'll tell them you tripped coming down the stairs and we had to get it wrapped, alright?" Tsukishima may have chosen harsh words, but his tone was more caring than he would have liked.

When Tsukishima walked into practice with Hito on his back, he had a bored look on his face. "He tripped down the stairs, the idiot can't walk. We had to stop and get it wrapped." 

"Hito, take a seat on the stage. Tsukishima, start warming up." Daichi called, letting Suga check on his friend.

"Stairs, huh?"

"Ye-yeah. It hurt, but Shima carried me most of the way." Suga smiled softly at Hito, motioning for him to swing his leg up on the stage. He slipped Hito's shoe off, carefully feeling around to make sure Hito hadn't broken it. Hito kept wincing, biting one of his knuckles to keep from complaining.

"It's just swollen, you're gonna need a couple more days rest." Hito let his head fall back slightly, groaning in disappointment.

"Really?" 

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you play if you're hurt; you won't be at full strength."

Hito nodded his head, swinging his now shoed foot off of the stage carefully. Hito pulled the granola bar out of the bag, carefully opening it before taking a small bite. Tsukishima caught his eye, nodding slightly at the sight of Hito eating.

By the time Hito was done eating, Daichi had moved on reminding the team of the positions for the practice match. Hitoshi wasn't paying much attention, seeing as he wouldn't be playing, but he knew that Tsukishima and Hinata were middle blockers, Kageyama was the setter, and Daichi, Ennoshita, and Tanaka were all wing spikers.


	9. I Didn't Even Get a Choice

After school the team had gathered round the bus, ready for their match. Yamaguchi helped Hito get on the bus and find a seat.

"Thanks, Yama!" He said.

"No problem!" Yamaguchi responded, taking the seat in front of him. Hito took out his phone and headphones, plugging them in and turning on his music.

He pulled out a book from his bag titled _Percy Jackson: The Titans Curse_. He turned to where he last left off and started to read. 

The bus came to a stop, slightly annoying him because he had just got to an interesting part. Putting his things away, he waited for everyone to get off the bus first before attempting to get off himself. Hito had made it outside and leant against the front of the bus.

"Hitoshi." Kiyoko said, prompting the said boy to look at her. "Here, I'll help you get to the gym."

"Thanks." He said, going to lean against her so she could help him limp to the gym. They stop in front of the gym; looking over at the group trying to intimidate a couple of Aobajohsai members.

"Do... do you know what's going on over there?" 

Kiyoko hums, glancing up for a split second. "No. It seems like Daichi is going to be yelling at them soon." 

Sure enough, Hito watches as Daichi starts scolding Tanaka, and Kageyama; Tsukishima leaving as the group gets yelled at.

"Kiyoko, you can go help the team with the supplies. I'll take Shorty here to his place on the bench." Kiyoko nodded, helping Hito shift his weight onto Shima's shoulders. 

"You know, I could get there on my own." Hito says sarcastically. 

"You could. Doesn't mean we'll let you." Hito sighs, giving up on his 'persuasive' speech. 

Tsukishima gently helps Hito sit down on the bench, quickly giving the hand over his shoulder a squeeze. "We'll talk later."

Hito nodded, a look of slight confusion on his face. 

Blue Castle was already practicing when they got there, they all said their thanks. Hito watched as Hinata rushed towards the bathroom.

The rest of the team began to put on their scrimmage jersey, once Hinata came back they lined up and began the game. The two teams yelled out their 'thank you' and got into their starting rotation. 

Takeda and Kiyoko joined Hito in the bench as the serve went up, it was going directly towards Daichi, who had gotten into the receiving position, but Hinata had cut him off and received it instead.

Hito mentally face palmed.

"You moron!" Kageyama yelled.

Ennoshita covered the ball as Tanaka went to spike, however they were blocked, earning Blue Castle the point.

Hinata kept messing up, earning the opposing team multiple points.

_Oh. No. Hinata's up to serve..._

As expected, Hinata - to put it bluntly - fucked up his serve, hitting Kageyama in the back of the head. Tanaka and Tsukishima both started laughing, Hito trying to stifle his own.

Hito looked to Tsukishima at the sound of laughter, a slight blush on his face. He sounds nice for once, kinda sweet. 

Kageyama started walking towards Hinata who, in turn, backed away. He stopped right in front of Hinata, getting in his face. Kags said something to him before walking away.

They lined back up to continue the game. Aobajohsai had won the first set, but they had high hopes for the next set.

The set began with Ennoshita serving. Their number 4 spiked the ball, sending it towards Tsukishima. Kageyama and Hinata were planning on doing their freak quick, but the ball never hit Hinata's hand, causing the point to go to Blue Castle.

Once the ball was up, during the next serve, Kageyama set it towards Hinata, doing their quick successfully. 

"GREAT JOB GUYS!" Hito yelled along with the rest of the team. Takeda was in awe after seeing their quick for the first time.

The 6 did a quick, celebratory cheer, yelling out a loud 'YEAH!' 

Hinata had gone to spike the ball, while the blockers followed, but he ended up being a decoy so they ended up gaining the point.

They continued earning points until they called for a timeout.

"You're playing well, Shima."

"Yeah, you're doing great Tsukki!"

Tsukishima took a big drink from the water bottle, wiping the extra drops away with his hand.

"Go away, please."

Yamaguchi stays there, and Hito's stuck on the bench, so Tsukishima was stuck with them.

"You look so cool out there, I wish I could play. We're definitely gonna win, right?"

"I guess."

Hito frowned slightly at the dismissive nature of Tsukishima. "I think we're gonna win, Yama!"

The whistle blew, symbolizing the end of the timeout. 

"Time to start," Daichi called out to the team, who immediately got back in position.

"Chance ball!" 

Daichi received the ball, a perfect pass to Kageyama, who sets it towards Tsukishima. Tsukishima got a powerful hit over the blockers, earning Karasuno a point.

"Yeah, go Shima!" Hito called out to him; Tanaka went over to slap Tsukishima on the back. They started bickering, so Daichi came over and 'calmed them down'. 

"Your serve Tanaka!" Suga called from the sidelines, next to Yamaguchi.

"Oh, I get it now. The team rotates every time they earn a point and get serving rights. Which means, Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Ennoshita should all be playing forward right now!" Takeda said with the position board in his hands. 

"Right, so at this point their positions are the opposite of what they were when the game started." Suga was leaning over Takeda's shoulder.

"Thanks to Hinata's decoy tactics, the overall success rate of our attacks increases whenever we have him in the front row! Also, whenever the ball goes to Tsukishima... his blocks are every bit as intimidating as Aobajohsai's are!"

Kageyama and Tsukishima were up against the net, ready to jump for a block. Kageyama started trying to get in front of Tsukishima, who retaliated by pushing him back.

"You're supposed to fight the guys in blue! Blue!" Tanaka yelled to no avail. The two first-years didn't stop ‘fighting' until Tanka yelled, "here comes the blue!" 

They successfully blocked the ball, but went back into bickering about who did the blocking. 

"KNOCK IT OFF! CUT THAT CRAP OUT!" Daichi yelled. Kageyama went over and grabbed a grinning Hinata by his jersey, shaking him around.

"WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU?!"

A couple points later, the libero couldn't get to one of Hinata's attacks quick enough, making the score 24 - 22, Karasuno to Aobajohsai. Once again, the pass from Daichi and the set from Kags lead to an impressive spike from Hinata, and the winning point.

The whole team cheered, minus Tsukishima, before walking off to get water. 

"You did so good, Tsukki!" Yamaguchi said enthusiastically. Tsukishima hummed in response, taking a big drink of his water.

Hito turned in his seat. "You're doing well, Shima. Your blocks are really good."

Tsukishima scoffs, "says the person who twisted their ankle from a failed block."

"First of all, it's a _bruised_ ankle, not a twisted one, there's a difference. Second of all, says the person who _cuddles_ in his _sleep_."

Tsukishima's cheeks went pink, "We agreed not to talk about that."

" _Actually_ , we agreed on not talking about the storm. Yes, both involve cuddling, but they are two different topics." 

Yamaguchi is quietly losing it at the humiliation of his best friend. They didn't realize, but both Kageyama and Sugawara overheard it. Kageyama didn't know what to do with the information and Suga was laughing under his breath. Tsukishima stayed scolding Yamaguchi for laughing, leaving Hito alone. He then decided to tune into Daichi and Ennoshita's conversation, when Kageyama interrupted.

"Don't get too comfortable. That setter of theirs? I don't think he's their starter."

It was at this point that the spectators started cheering, causing the team to look over. 

"Hey, welcome back Oikawa. How's that leg doing?" Their coach asked the new-comer with an irritated look on his face.

"Never been better; glad I can come back to practice now. It was just a tiny sprain." 'Oikawa' said.

"Listen son, don't ever do that again. They brought Kageyama like we asked them too, so we can't just show up without our official setter. That would make us look bad."

Oikawa put a hand behind his head, "I'm sorry."

Hito turned back to the team when Oikawa started waving to his 'fangirls'. 

"Hey, it might be because he got all the ladies attention, but I already hate this guy." Tanaka said with a disturbing look on his face. Hito nodded slightly to himself, not liking the vibes he gave off.

"Yeah, that's Aobajohsai’s team captain." Daichi said.

"Oikawa... a super offensive setter. Top of his class in attacking and team play." Kageyama said, a face full of what looked to be hate. He turned to Hinata, "And yeah, he's got a bad attitude too."

Hito turned back to Yamaguchi and a drinking Tsukishima, "Apparently, Kageyama went to the same school as the new guy. I don't like him."

Tsukishima put the water bottle down and wiped his mouth. "Just ignore him. How's your foot?"

Hito looked slightly shocked at the concern, "It's okay, Yama's been keeping me company!"

Yamaguchi smiled brightly, "Yep! It's the least I can do, honestly."

Hito turned back into the conversation of Kageyama and the others when Oikawa started to greet him.

"He's good. I learned everything I know about serving and blocking from him. Do not underestimate him." He paused. "Still. We should stay focused on the game, we're going to take that last set." He said with conviction. 

Tsukishima noticed where his attention had turned and flicked him on the forehead. "Didn't I tell you to ignore them?"

Hito's arms went up to protect himself. "Don't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Cause I said don't!"

Tsukishima flicks Hito again, causing Yamaguchi to snicker.

"Hey! _Don't do that!_ "

He does it again, and this time Yamaguchi's laughing louder.

"Tsukishima!"

~~~~~~

Soon, the score was 20-24; Aobajohsai to Karasuno; and Oikawa still hadn't played. This worried Hito slightly, because if he was as good as Kageyama said he was, they were in for trouble. A first year from Blue Castle scored another point before Oikawa subbed in. This caused both Tanaka and Hinata to freak out slightly; until Daichi knocked Tanaka on the head.

Oikawa was up to serve, and just before he did, pointed towards someone on the other side of the net. He then did a jump serve; one that Hito thought would be both fun and terrifying to receive. It went straight to Tsukishima, bouncing off of his upper arm.

It happened again. Tsukishima tried to lean for it, but it rebounded away from the court. 

"Poor Tsukki!" 

Tsukishima was getting visibly frustrated now, and we were up to 23-24. 

_One more point to tie..._ Hito thought.

"HEY! GREAT KING! WHY DON'T YOU AIM FOR ME?! I CAN TAKE IT! JUST AIM THE BALL RIGHT AT MY HEAD!" Hinata all but screamed.

"Stop it, you're acting like a toddler." Tsukishima said, agitated at the childish antics of his rival.

"Excuse me?"

"The cool thing about volleyball is, everybody you see on this side of the net is your ally, okay Tsukishima?"

Tanaka smiled behind a completely vexed Tsukishima, "Wise words from a wise guy!"

Daichi chose this time to walk over. "Okay, let's fall back as a group. Tsukishima, you stay close to the sidelines."

"How can he pinpoint somebody who's so far away?!" Takeda asked no one.

"But he's emphasizing control, so the momentum should be slower." Suga said.

Tsukishima managed to get the ball up in the air and over the net. It was passed by Oikawa, and was set to the same first-year from earlier. He almost managed to shake the blockers, but Hinata jumped sideways and managed to get it up.

Hinata landed a final hit, right past Oikawa's shoulder. It went in, leaving a final score of 23-25 Karasuno. It caused an uproar across the audience. Takeda was stunned, this was the first time that he saw the quick in action.

"Oh yeah, that's right. I guess this is the first time you've seen Hinata's and Kageyama's special attack in action. It's pretty cool, huh? In fact, it's so cool it kinda freaks me out." Suga said excitedly.

It was at this point that the player from the court came over and bowed before Takeda. "We're ready!"

Takeda was lost, so Suga helpfully whispered, "You're supposed to give them some feedback."

"Oh sorry, I didn't know... Well, let me see. Like I said, I don't know that much about volleyball. But still! I can tell that something really great is starting to take shape. We've just had some really gifted first years joined the team, and things didn't run so smoothly at first. But now? I think I understand why! Even if everyone doesn't always agree; whenever people are brought together, it creates a chemical reaction. Somewhere in the world, there's a fateful encounter happening at this very moment. 

"It could be happening somewhere far away, in a completely different country, or on the other side of the globe. Or maybe, it's on a small eastern island, in a tiny northern town, in an ordinary high school, in a regular volleyball club. I believe that encounter was made at Karasuno. I don't have any proof yet, but I can't ignore what I believe. And before too long, this team is going to become even stronger."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, but Hito was in awe. Maybe it was the sentiment, but he could feel the power behind each word and sentence. He felt the emotion in his words and the complete belief Takeda had in them; as individuals and as a team.

"I'm sorry, that was too weird wasn't it?! I'll stop!"

"Nononono! That was great Takeda!" Daichi calmed slightly and bowed. "Thanks."

"Thank you!" The team called afterwards.

"U-uh. Sure!"

With that, Hito turned to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. "So. Ready for the next game?"

~~~~~~

Hito had set his foot down slowly once he reached the water fountain, keeping most of the weight off of it. He pressed the button and leaned down, only getting two sips in before he heard talking.

"They brought an _injured_ player to a practice match? What were they thinking?"

Hito looked up, eyes falling on two players from Aobajohsai.

"What?"

The taller player looked over at Hito before smiling, "Why'd you even come; you can't stand, let alone play. The team won without you; not that you would have contributed anyway. You and your little _friend_ just stood and watched the whole time." 

Hito just rolled his eyes. "Yes, because you can't learn anything by watching. I may not have played, but at least I still came as support. My team actually acts like a team; not abandoning people the minute they're not useful anymore. Keep in mind, we still beat you even if some of us didn't play. Plus, stop acting like you're all high and mighty. Neither of you played in the game either."

The shorter one started to fume. "Why you-"

"Do we have a problem?"

Hito looked over and saw Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Sugawara, and Tanaka all standing behind him. 

"What 'cha want with Hito?" Tanaka asked, accusatory.

Tall guy raises his hands innocently, "We were just asking some questions, that's it."

" 'Just questions' my ass..." Hito grumbled.

Suga narrowed his eyes. " _Sure_. In that case, I'm sure you don't mind if we take him back to the bus."

Tanaka stepped forward, "Hold on here, Suga. We can't just let them off the hook like that! Not while they were harassing our kohai!"

"I think Tanaka's right for once. We can't let them think that this is okay." 

Hito looked to Tsukishima in surprise. I never would have thought he would be defending me.

"I'm telling you, we were just asking him some innocent questions, that's all."

"Yeah, sure, we'll let you believe that." Yamaguchi said with a hand on his hip.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"You two cornered an innocent boy with a twisted," Suga looked at an annoyed Hito before amending his previous statement. " _Bruised_ ankle; not like he can just walk away."

"We weren't gonna pick on him!"

"You know, the size of your prefrontal-cortex relates to how many friends you have; and the amount of friends you have correlates to how long you live. I see you won't be living very long." Hito said.

The two Blue Castle students looked scandalized, "What are you, a sociopath?"

Tanaka stepped forward, "What do-"

Hito held up a silencing hand, "You obviously don't know the medical definition of sociopath." He said, rolling his eyes.

Hito took a breath. "A sociopath is a term used to describe someone who has antisocial personality disorder or ASPD. People with ASPD can't understand others' feelings. They'll often break rules or make impulsive decisions without feeling guilty for the harm they cause. _I_ feel empathy and understand the concept of right and wrong, _I_ am not manipulative and can feel love. Learn what your insults mean please."

This upset the Aobajohsai players, the shorter one reaching out and shoving Hito over. This occurred right as Ennoshita rounded the corner; him landing on his knees to help Hito up. 

"Are you okay?"

Hito just nodded, eyes narrowing and watering. _I'm not at home, I'm safe here, I'll be okay, they'll protect me._

"Now you've done it!" Tanaka said, almost lunging forward; if not for Suga holding the back of his shirt.

"Tanaka, I think we should leave these two to their vice-captain, right Iwaizumi?"

A new voice rang out. "Thank you, Sugawara. I'll bring these two-" he placed a hand on each of the two terrified players' shoulders, "-back to coach. They'll have some explaining to do."

Suga smiled brightly, satisfied with himself. "In that case; we'll head back to the bus! Thanks Iwaizumi!"

'Iwaizumi' nodded, moving to lead the two players from his team back to their team.

As Suga lead the group away, Yamaguchi got excited. "How'd you know that, Hito?!"

"Yeah dude, that was like, actual doctory facts; how'd you learn that?"

Hito looked up from his feet, "My brother, Tarō, is training to be a doctor. So I help him study a lot."

Tanaka looked a little confused, but nodded. "So you're his study-buddy?"

Ennoshita sighed, "Tanaka, please don't say 'study-buddy' again. That makes you sound like an elementary student."

"Well, I'm sorry."

Suga snapped, gaining everyone's attention. "Okay. When we find Daichi, our story is that Hito tripped on some of Aobajohsai's players, and we were helping them get situated, alright?"

"Right!"

~~~~~~

Hito was balancing against Ennoshita, who made a point of telling Hito he'd like to help. 

"Are you sure that this is okay?"

Ennoshita smiled down at Hito, "Yes, Hitoshi; I wanted to."

"You know... you can call me Hito."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright then, Hito."

Meanwhile, Hito's been keeping an ear focused on Daichi's conversation, "Takeda's right, but if we ever want to play and win a real game against Blue Castle with Oikawa in the setter position, we're still missing a vital ingredient."

"Wow, very well said captain."

Everyone froze. Hito looked to the source of the voice, seeing the setter from earlier. _Oikawa...great..._

"That's surprisingly astute."

He looked over at the team; causing an uproar from the group. Tanaka, followed by Hinata; who was hiding behind Tanaka; started towards him.

"What's your damage?"

"Got a problem?"

"Want a knuckle-sandwich?"

"Yeah, let's rumble."

_Someone stop this child..._

"Aww, come now; no need to get yourselves worked up. But hey short stuff," Oikawa said with his eyes closed and one hand on his hip. "That one-touch and broad jump were great. You should be proud."

Hinata looked flattered for a moment, before Oikawa started talking again.

"Next time," he started, "you should try doing things full out from the start. You haven't seen our real setup. But don't worry, we'll be working on perfecting our serves til then." 

Oikawa paused. "That combination attack is pretty effective, but you're gonna run out of steam at some point. You need to improve your receives. After all, I'm not the only person with those power serves. The inter-high tournaments are coming up, and I want you to make the cut.

"Listen carefully," Oikawa pointed to Kageyama. "My special protégé, I wanna crush you fair and square at an official game where we both play the setter!"

Hinata grabbed Tsukishima's arm, speaking up. "Yeah, well! We can train to receive, fancy-pants!"

"Hey, let go!"

Oikawa turned around, "Just so you know, receives aren't something you can master overnight." He started walking away. "I'm sure your captain can attest to that. If we happen to meet again at the tournament; I look forward to seeing all your improvement."

Kageyama watched him go before turning to Daichi; "Look, do not let him get to you. Antagonizing people's just one of those things he likes to do. So..."

Hito was slightly surprised to see Daichi chuckle. "He's right. We don't have a whole lot of time until then, but luckily we have someone coming back soon."

Tanaka got a maniac grin on his face, slightly startling Hito again. Hinata piped up, "Who's coming back?"

Daichi smiled in a way Hito would go as far as calling evil. "Karasuno's Guardian."

Ennoshita smiled slightly as he started walking; Hito opted to focus on not falling rather than who the Guardian could be.

~~~~~~

Hito pulled his hood up, slipping in earbuds and pulling out his book. He gets ten pages in before he gets a notification on his phone.

From: Yama 

Are you okay? I know it had to be hard to sit out the whole game. Is your ankle feeling better now?

Hito smiled as he sent one back.

From: Hito

I'm okay; the actual sitting out was fine, it was the not being able to play that was difficult. My ankle is a bit better, but it's still hard to walk and it still stings, a lot. I'm gonna need help getting home.

Hito puts his phone down and picks his book back up. However, right as he found his spot again, he got another text. He groans quietly, carefully closing his book and picking up his phone.

From: Shima

You're not going to walk home on your own; you're not going back to your home at all. I'm taking you to my house for at least the night; I'm not letting you go back there, especially after this morning. I won't say anything about it to Akiteru, but I expect an explanation. 

Hito rolled his eyes, quickly typing out a response.

From: Hito

I'm not going to walk home alone because I can't walk home. I would be fine at my place; I've already taken up too much of your family's time. I'll have to go back eventually, I can't just abandon Tarō like that. I'll try to explain, but no promises on answers.

Hito turns off his phone and puts it on silent; finally going back to his book. He read a couple more pages, but paused; feeling his eyes sting. _I... I'm fine. He didn't mean to hurt me, Suga and the others wouldn't let me get hurt. I can trust them, I know I can. Just breathe. I know I can trust them, why can't I bring myself to believe it?!_

Hito worked himself up, only realizing what he was doing when he felt tears drip down his face. He paused, took a deep breath, and wiped his eyes, electing to ignore the burning in his chest. He picked the book up from where he had dropped it and opened it again. 

He quietly gasped. _Shit; fuck... not Zoë..._

By the time the team got back to the school, Hito had finished two more chapters. 

~~~~~~

Hito's trip to the Sakanoshita store consisted of him limp-walking halfway, tripping on a stone and almost falling, then being made to ride on Tsukishima's back.

He reached out a hand from its place on Tsukishima's chest for his granola bar, carefully leaning forward as to have two free hands to open it. "Thanks Mr. Ukai." 

"No problem kid. Ankle feeling any better?"

"It is now that you wrapped it, thank you." 

"Yes, it has nothing to do with me having to carry you everywhere." Shima cuts in, rolling his eyes. Ukai took one glance at Tsukishima's exasperated face before breaking into a smug smile and saying,

"You don't mind. If you did, you'd be long gone by now." Tsukishima chose not to answer, instead deciding to bring this conversation up to Hito later. Why do you like this guy again? would be a good place to start.

Tsukishima walked out of the store, Hito crossing his legs while Tsukishima opened the door. 

"Wow, Hito. You're pretty good at that, had much practice?" Trying to ignore the implications behind Tanaka's statement, Hito stared at him.

"I've been hurt for the past four days, yes I've had practice." Tsukishima unconsciously tightened his grip on Hito as he shifted; trying to keep Hito's weight balanced. 

"Tadashi, let's go." Tsukishima waved Yamaguchi over, almost dropping Hito in the process. 

"Fuck, don't drop me!" The team all stopped and stared at Hito, who then shrinks into Tsukishima's back. "...what?"

"What did you just say?" Daichi asks with an amused look on his face.

"You can't curse! You're a literal 5-year-old." Tanaka said with a scandalized look on his face.

"Obviously not, if I'm old enough to curse."

Tsukishima laughs before falling in step with Yamaguchi, Hito sticking his tongue out at the team as they walk away.

"Shorty, why are they laughing back there?" Tsukishima asked with amusement in his voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Hito tried to play innocent, causing Yamaguchi to start laughing too.

"You really are a 5-year-old."

~~~~~~

Hito uncrossed his legs once they got inside; Tsukishima carefully set him down.

"Kei? I thought you took your boyfriend home yesterday?"

"Akiteru, he's not my boyfriend and he tripped down stairs. It has to be wrapped, and it's too late to walk him home tonight."

"Shima, would you mind if I called Tarō to let him know where I am?"

Tsukishima nodded, walking into the kitchen. Hito sat on the bottom of the steps, pulling out his phone.

"Tarō?... I'm at Shima's... **he's not my boyfriend** ...tomorrow, probably...is he that mad again?...Stay safe then..... **he's not my boyfriend** ...my meds are in my bag...we won...make something up, something that'll keep you safe...I don't care how pissed he's going to be when I get back, keep yourself safe... **I don't have a crush on him either, you underserving fuck llama**...I love you too...bye Tarō." Hito hung up, sticking his phone back in his bag. 

By this time, Tsukishima was sitting beside Hito eating take-out. He pulled out another pair of chopsticks, wordlessly handing them to Hito. Hito took them without complaint this time, silently taking a bite.

They saw the flash of a camera, looking up to see Akiteru smiling. "Such a cute couple; this is one for the album." Tsukishima looks up, disinterested.

"Will you ever get over this?"

"Probably not; Tarō and I have too much fun teasing you guys. Right Hito?" Hito is currently hiding in his hands, face red enough to burn.

"Great. You broke him." Tsukishima glares at his brother, hiding the annoyed smile on his face. He's doing it again... causing the weird feelings thing... I don't like it. 

Akiteru laughed, moving back to the kitchen. Tsukishima immediately went back to eating, Hito taking a minute to collect himself. When they had finished, Tsukishima placed the plate and chopsticks in the sink, coming back for Hito. Hito carefully stood up, climbing onto Shima's back. 

He tightened his grip on Tsukishima as they went up the stairs; only loosening his hold when they got to the room.

"The pajamas you wore last time are in the top dresser, I'll go get water for your pill." With that, Tsukishima left the room, closing the door behind him. Hito immediately jumped to life, carefully taking off his uniform pants. Hito pulls on the oversized sweatpants; moving on to the shirt. I'll fix the legs after the shirt this time. 

When Tsukishima got back, he walked in on Hito fixing the legs of his sweatpants. He set the glass of water on the side table, pulling out pajamas for himself. Hito turned away, face flushing slightly at the memory of the night before.

"Thank you for the water, Shima." Tsukishima just hummed in acknowledgment; finishing getting dressed.

"So, sensitive to noise, huh?" He said, turning to look at Hito.

He looked confused for a second before realizing what he meant. "O-oh...yep..." Hito said nervously, staring at his hands and starting to fidget with the hem of the shirt.

"How long did you expect that to work?" Shima asks monotonously.

"I hoped I wouldn't need to explain. Anything." 

"Well. I can't do a thing to make it easier if I don't know what I'm dealing with. You should know this, considering you're in my class."

"Do I have to?"

"I would... _appreciate_ it... if you did."

"Okay....well," He took a breath, trying to steady his voice, "it's my father, he's the problem. He still calls me his....daughter, and doesn't like my meds, he thinks I'm 'broken' and 'defective'. He...he drinks too much and gets physical with Tarō and I sometimes. He hates the two of us; but he's deemed Tarō more.... _'tolerable'_ than me."

Hito was tearing up and was trying hard to hold back his tears. He choked back a sob before continuing, "I-I've been...hurt.... Because Hideki has anger issues; and...and I'm good at getting down through the window because I...I have to do it...a lot. I can...go up too, when my ankle is better..."

Tsukishima didn't say anything at first, trying to let all the information sink in. "Is there anything I can do....?" He said after a long beat of silence.

"....I could use a hug... If it's okay with you..." He said quietly, hoping he didn't start crying. _You cry too much. This is why no one cares about you._ He criticized himself. Hito felt a pair of arms wrap around him, holding him tightly. At this, he broke. He started crying into Shima's shirt while the taller one shushed him, quietly listening to Hitoshi's cries.

"P-please...just..just tell me I'm not a lost cause..."

"I promise, you're not, okay?" He just cried even more, causing Tsukishima to hold him closer.

"D-don't leave. Please don't leave me." Hito pleads.

"I'm not going to leave you, Hitoshi. I'm right here. I'm going to protect you, you'll be alright, no one is going to get to you here. Just breathe. Hear my heartbeat? Just try to focus on that."

Hito tried to breath slowly, but it wasn't helping. 

"Can't... I can't-"

"Hey, it's okay. It doesn't have to be stable yet, but you have to breathe. In with me, out with me, okay?" Hito nodded, looking up. Tsukishima made a show of taking a breath in, Hito following a half-step behind.

Tsukishima blew the air out slowly, Hito trying to follow his example. It was shaky, but better than nothing. Tsukishima did it again and again, until Hito's breathing was normal.

He collapsed on Tsukishima's chest, who shifted Hito until he was sitting sideways with his head against Shima's collarbone.

"I don't want to see him."

"I know."

"I don't want him to hurt you too."

"He won't."

"How do you know?" Hito asked drowsily, almost asleep on Tsukishima's chest.

"Because I know that he won't touch me when you're there. He can't touch you, either."

"Why?"

"Because I'll protect you." At this Hito hummed in content before his breathing fell steady. Tsukishima cringed at his words. _'I'll protect you?' I barely know him! It doesn't help that he's fundamentally small child who... needs protecting._

Tsukishima decided that this was another day's problem, instead shifting Hito to lay on the bed. He climbed in on the other side, turning the light off. He flipped to face Hito, making sure he was okay, before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

~~~~~~

"Here's your stuff Hito." Tarō said as he handed Hito's uniform over to his younger brother. He turned to the Tsukishima's. 

"Thank you for having him." 

Akiteru just laughed, waving him off, "I sure didn't mind; and I'm sure Kei didn't either. He was too busy cuddling up with Hito, anyway."

"Hito, really? **And you said you weren't dating."**

" **I started crying because I had to explain, okay? He was just being a decent person.** " Hito grumbled out, tucking the clothes under his arm. "Shima, can I go get changed?" 

"Yeah." Tsukishima bent down enough for Hito to climb on his back before starting up the stairs.

" _Definitely_ not dating, huh?" Tarō said to Akiteru. 

" _Totally_."


	10. Homo x2

“You’re gonna have to limp faster than that.”

Hito rolled his eyes at a smug Tsukishima before laughing as Yamaguchi smacked him upside the head, “Well, I don’t suppose you would want to carry me, would you?”

Tsukishima scoffed before adjusting his backpack and walking ahead.

“I’m sorry Hito, Tsukki’s just annoyed at something or another again...”

”Yeah, I bet it’s because he’s gonna have to carry me after practice again.”

“Don’t say that! I’m sure it’s just because we got held back in class for a few minutes.”

“Yeah, because the two idiots in the back of the class couldn’t keep their mouths shut.”

Yamaguchi laughed softly as he set Hito down in the chair in the corner of the club room. 

“Thanks Yama, kinda hard to get around with three textbooks in your bag and a bunch of notebooks.”

Yamaguchi gave Hito a blinding smile, “No problem!”

Hito pulled out his book and flipped to his page, only getting five pages in before Yamaguchi was finished changing. 

“Is it really worth reading it now if you only get a few pages in before we have to leave?” Yama asked, confused.

Hito nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, it’s a really good book and I’m almost done! Even though I’ve read the series like, twenty times and I already know what happens, it’s still really good! It’s one of my favorite books out of the Percy Jackson series.”

“Twenty times? That’s a lot for such a short series.” Yama said as he swung Hito’s arm around his waist.

“Maybe so, but it’s a really good series.”

“I may have to check it out sometime if you say it’s that good.”

Yamaguchi adjusted Hito’s weight as they reached the stairs, with Hito trying not to fall forward. 

“It really is, I’m sure that you’d like it.”

“I’ll trust you on this, you’re always reading those books in class.”

Yamaguchi pushes open the door and helps Hito sit on the floor so he can change shoes. 

“Hey, you guys made it!”

Hito looked up and saw Daichi waving at them from across the gym.

“We’re sorry we’re late!”

“Yeah, we’re very sorry!”

Daichi sighed softly, “No need to be sorry; Yamaguchi, help Hito to the stage, will you?”

“Of course!”

Yamaguchi helps Hito stand up before moving him to the stage; setting him down on the edge. Hito scans the gym, eyes falling on a familiar boy talking with Tanaka. 

_I think his name is... Nishinoya? Maybe? I’ve seen him around Saeko-nee's house. He’s always talking with Tanaka-senpai._

‘Nishinoya’ looked up and locked eyes with Hito. Hito immediately avoided eye-contact, hoping that he didn’t look like he was staring.

By the time he looked up, Nishinoya was four steps away. “So who’re you? I’ve seen you around Ryuu’s place, what’re you doing here?”

“Um, I’m Hitoshi Shota, year one class four. I’m part of the club but I got injured. What’s your name?”

“Yū Nishinoya! Year two class three!” Nishinoya said as he hopped up on the stage.

“Oh! You’re my senpai! I didn’t know!” 

Nishinoya’s face _lit_ _up_. “Senpai! You know, you’re not so bad!”

Hito was shocked and confused. _He actually likes me? That hasn’t happened in a while..._

Hito looked over at Nishinoya, seeing him watching practice with an eager look on his face. He was bouncing his legs off the front of the stage in a rhythm, one that Hito couldn’t help but match using his good foot. They continued for about five minutes more before the team took a break. Tanaka saw what they were doing and ran over with a huge smile on his face. He jumped up on the stage with Hito and Nishinoya, quickly joining in with considerably more force. 

“CAN YOU STOP THAT!?” Kageyama yelled out of nowhere.

“IT’S ALL RYUU’S FAULT ANYWAY!” Noya yelled back, hands cupped around his mouth while Hito nodded furiously.

“Tanaka, Kageyama, get back to practice!” Daichi called to the both of them before going back to practice himself.

Tanaka turned to Noya, doing a five part handshake that Hito tried to understand. He looked down at his hands, trying to seem like he wasn’t staring again. 

“Hitoshi, why aren’t you playing?”

Hito looked up. “Well, after I landed from a block, I bruised my ankle fairly badly. I’m not supposed to play for a while now. Also, you can just call me Hito if you want to.”

“Okay Hito, how long have you been playing?”

“I played as libero for my middle school team, second year up, so that’s what I prefer; but I’m an all-rounder.”

“Hey! I’m the libero!”

Hito cocked his head, “Really? That’s awesome! However, if I may, why aren’t you practicing?”

“Simple. If Asahi isn’t coming back, neither am I!”

Hito nodded, deciding against asking who Asahi was. He didn’t want to push his luck with his new... could he call him a friend? Is that moving too fast? He wasn’t sure.

Noya looked up at a failed receive. “Shorten your stance! You’re too off balance!”

Hito glanced up from his hands, seeing Hinata with a stance far too wide for any movement.

He nodded. “You have to drop your hips a little and use your whole body to send the ball out! Not just your arms!”

Hinata looked over with a slight glare, but lowered and shortened his stance. Taking a quick look around, Hito could see others listening in on the corrections and applying them. His gaze fell on Noya, who had a slightly proud look on his face. “You know your stuff, huh? Better than the other first-years, at least.” 

“I only kinda know; ‘better’ is a comparative term.”

“That’s a couple of words I’m not sure the definition of.” 

Hito smiles slightly, deciding against explaining as to not be seen as annoying, but Noya had already turned his attention back to the practice. They stayed there for the remaining time, occasionally calling out corrections. 

Once they were done, Noya jumped up to show his kouhais how to receive.

“So, what I’m saying is... you shwoom in, swish together, _then_ thump. See?” Nishinoya said, trying to show Hinata and Shima how to do a proper receive at the end of practice. 

The two in question (along with Yamaguchi) tilted their heads in confusion, trying to decipher what he just said.

“I told you, people who act on instinct really suck at putting stuff into words.” Tanaka basically criticized his best friend.

“I dunno,” Kageyama said, looking over to Tanaka. “I got a good idea on what he meant.”

“Uh, yeah. That’s ‘cause you’re the same way. It’s all sound effects, you’re all “wamajam” and “kablooie”. You’re like a bunch of five-year-olds.” Tanaka muttered the last sentence. Kageyama for some reason got confused on what his senpai had said. 

Hito turned away from their conversation, instead turning his attention to Daichi and Takeda. 

“The libero is a unique position, isn’t it?”

“It is. The libero specializes in defense. A digger. They aren’t allowed to make serves or spikes, instead they maintain the rearguard position to maintain a strong defense and keep the ball from hitting the floor.”

“So I guess that’s why you called him ‘The Guardian’. That’s impressive!”

Daichi nodded. “If we can convince him to come back, I think the team will be in great shape. He may be small, but he has a huge presence on the court. It feels a lot safer to have him on our side.”

Takeda turned to Hito. “Hitoshi? You were libero in middle school, correct?”

The sudden question caught him off-guard, but he was able to form an answer. “That’s right Takeda-sensei! Libero is one of my favorite positions, but I can play almost any position without any problems.”

“DUDE! That’s the one thing you shouldn’t say!” Tanaka suddenly yelled, catching their attention.

“He’s Karasuno’s ace. Well, he’s supposed to be.” _Who is Noya-senpai talking about?_

For a second, no one said anything until Noya spoke up again. “What are you all speechless for?” He asked Hinata.

“That’s what... I want to become!”

“You wanna be an ace with your height?” Hinata’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, not expecting his senpai to be so harsh.

Suddenly, Nishinoya grabbed Hinata’s arm. “I like your style!” He then started lightly hitting Hinata’s arm. “You wanna be the ace because it’s flashy and cool, right? Hell yeah buddy, you can be the ace if you set your mind to it!” 

He then stopped hitting his arm and placed his hands on his hips, “to tell you the truth, you have way more promise than our current ace!” Nishinoya then started laughing before his face turned more serious and he crossed his arms.

“Of course, I guess everyone wants to be the ace...”

“Yeah! That’s ‘cause the ace is the best!”

“I mean, even the word ‘ace’ sounds cool! ‘Setter’ and ‘libero’ are kinda plain and boring.” Kageyama started to get upset but Suga sheepishly told him to ‘just let it go’.

“But still, the one thing that works up a crowd during a game... better than any amazing spike... Make a wicked receive and they go crazy for you every time! This game is ‘tall beats all’, so if you're a bit on the short side libero is one of the only options you have. But I’ll tell you one thing... I don’t play the position because of how tall I am. Even if I was 6 feet tall, I’d still be out there digging the ball out! 

“Not being able to spike or block doesn’t mean anything. In volleyball you can’t lose unless the ball touches the floor, and the only one who keeps it in the sky is the libero!”

“Woah... th- that’s so cool!”

“Hey, cut that out!” Noya exclaims, flailing his arm around. “You’re making it weird when you say it so loud like that! I’ll get you two popsicles instead of one, how about that?”

“Okay!”

“So, wannabe ace, what’s your specialty?” 

“Huh?”

“Well, uh- you said you were crap at receiving, so what are you good at?”

“Oh well it’s uh- I’m a- a decoy...” Hinata said the last part quietly, so Nishinoya didn’t understand him.

“Huh? You’re a duck?”

“A decoy.” He said, louder this time.

“Why do you say it like it’s something bad?”

“Well, next to ‘ace’ and ‘guardian deity’ and all that stuff. Decoy sounds kinda boring.”

“Who gives a damn? What it’s called has nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah but-“

“If having you as a decoy makes it so a spiker can score a point.” He said, moving his fist to lightly punch Hinata’s chest. “They that makes your position as important as the rest of ‘em.”

“Okay...”

Yamaguchi walked over to Hito as Tsukishima stepped out of the gym. “Wanna head to the club room, so you’re not alone here?”

Hito hesitatingly nodded. “It wouldn’t be any trouble?”

“Of course not!” Yamaguchi said while hauling Hito upright. They carefully made their ways outside and up the stairs after changing shoes. Hito sat on the lone chair in the room in the corner as everyone finished changing. Tsukishima finished quickly after they entered. He moved to stand next to Hito.

“When are you going to get better Hito-kun? I want to play volleyball with you and it’s already been like... a lot of days you should be better by now!” 

Hito looked up at Hinata, who looked impatient. “It’s still going to take more time if I want to make sure I don’t make it worse. If I play too early, it can be worse than before.”

Hinata started pouting before Kageyama whacked him over the head. “Not everyone is as reckless as you, dumbass!”

Yamaguchi, who had paused to watch Hinata and Hito’s exchange, started to finish getting dressed as the ‘power duo’ started bickering again. Tsukishima scoffed.

“I can’t believe it took them this long to start fighting again.” He raised his voice slightly. “Tadashi! Hurry up!”

“Sorry Tsukki!”

Hito reached out to tug slightly on Shima’s shirt. “Leave him alone, we have time before we have to get back home.”

Tsukishima just ‘tsk’ed and rolled his eyes while turning away from Hito. Hito sighed softly before looking at his hands. “Sorry.”

Tsukishima’s head snapped to the meek boy at his side. “It’s not your fault, Hito. I just want to get home.”

The room froze. “Did we hear that right? Did _the_ Tsukishima just apologize?”

Tsukishima scoffed again. “I did nothing of the sort.”

Suga sighed. “Technically, he didn’t actually apologize.”

“Still counts!” Tanaka shouted.

Tsukishima sighed and started out the door. Yamaguchi yelped. He rushed to help Hito up, and they hurried after Shima as well as they could.

Yama helped Hito walk, a few steps behind Tsukishima, until they reached his street. He looked uncertain. “I’ve gotta go. Tsukki, can you help Hito? I’m not sure he should be putting too much weight on his foot again.”

Tsukishima nodded. “I will. We’ll see you tomorrow, Tadashi.”

“Bye Yama!” Hito said as he started leaning on Shima. They watched Yamaguchi wave and started walking away. Tsukishima turned around and crouched slightly.

“Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t sure.”

Hito nodded and let himself be lifted onto his back.

Three minutes later, Tsukishima turned left at the crossing, making it two steps before Hito told him to stop.

“Wait, wait, wait. Why are we going this way? My house is that way.” He pointed behind them.

Tsukishima nodded. “I’m aware.”

“Then why are we going this way?”

“Because you’re not going back to your house until your leg heals.” 

Hito tensed instantly. “Shima, that’s almost another two weeks. I can’t ask you to keep me that long.”

“That’s why I’m not asking. I’m telling. I already cleared it with Mom, and I’m not taking no for an answer. You need to not be running, or doing anything that could injure you more for that matter, and you can afford that with us.”

Hito stayed quiet, instead laying his head on Tsukishima’s shoulder.

“Now, ready to go home?”

Hito nodded slightly, “Yeah.”

The rest of the walk there was silent, Hito almost falling asleep by the time they were there.

Tsukishima took off his shoes quietly and stood still as Hito used him to balance to do the same. He hoisted Hito onto his back again and hurried up the stairs. Shima moved so Hito could open the door for them. Hito was then set down on the bed.

“I’m going to take a shower, then we should do our homework. Are you alright to stay in here while I’m showering?”

Hito nodded slightly, hands falling to his lap as Tsukishima turned to look for clothes. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.”

Shima nodded and left the room. Hito let out a small breath he’d been holding, letting his shoulders drop. He was alone in a boy’s room. 

He resisted the urge to fall back on the bed, not wanting to be seen as rude by the ghost that was obviously watching him. That’s the only acceptable answer as to why he feels so awkward. He didn’t know how much time had passed before the door opened. He tensed.

“So; hanging out in my baby brother’s room while he’s in the shower two doors down. How scandalous.”

Hito tensed up even further before blushing and stuttering. “I- it’s not my fault! He... he had practice!”

“I’m aware of that fact. I’m just surprised that he left you alone in his room. No one’s usually allowed in his room.”

“I just guess that he didn’t want to have to carry me up the stairs after he took a shower.”

Akiteru crossed his arms and smirked. “Are we sure that it’s not because he’s got a crush on you?”

Hito groaned and tried to hide his face in his hands. “He doesn't have a crush on me!”

“But you have a crush on him.”

“ _No_.”

“Akiteru, I thought I told you to stay out of my room.”

Hito looked up to immediately look back down. Tsukishima stood in the doorway, drying his hair, without a shirt on. Akiteru took one look at Hito’s face before turning around smugly.

“Wow Kei, no shirt. Don’t you think you’re moving a little fast for your poor boyfriend?”

Shima rolled his eyes. “For the last time he is _not_ my boyfriend.”

“And for the last time, he _is_ your boyfriend.”

“I think I would know if he was my boyfriend.”

“Are you sure about that; Hito’s acting like an embarrassed boyfriend.”

Tsukishima turned his attention to Hito, who let out a groan from where he had buried his face in the pillow of Shima’s bed.

“See what you’re doing to him? You’re banned until you put on clothes.”

“You can’t _ban_ me, it’s _my_ room!”

“And you’re killing poor Hito! Imagine Tarō’s reaction to us delivering a dead brother?”

“If he died from embarrassment, I think Tarō would have a field day.” 

Tsukishima brushed past Akiteru to sit on his bed next to Hito. Hito felt the bed shift, looked up, and immediately hid in the pillow.

Akiteru smirked at the innocent reaction. “I guess I’ll leave you to seduce your boyfriend.”

Hito tensed slightly. 

“He’s not my boyfriend, Akiteru!” 

_‘Please stop.'_

Akiteru laughed as he left the room. As soon as the laughter faded; Hito curled up in a ball. Tsukishima’s eyebrows furrowed. 

_‘I don’t wanna. Stop! No!’_

“Hito? Are you okay?” 

_‘Please! Stop it! Get off, stop!’_

Hito sat up slowly, drawing his legs under his chin. “Yeah. I’m fine.” 

_‘Stop it! Please. Stop. I don’t wanna! Please stop!’_

Tsukishima went to put a hand on Hito’s arms, wrapped around his legs, but Hito flinched violently. Tsukishima couldn’t help his concern, but hid it well, nodding slightly before standing. He grabbed a shirt and slipped it over his head. Hito was watching him carefully the whole time. Tsukishima slipped his glasses on, he had them in his hand, before watching Hito’s shoulders drop in relief. 

“Are you sure you're okay? You seem tense.”

“Yeah. I just... how much homework do we have?” Hito asked, quickly changing the subject.

Tsukishima stayed silent, watching Hito. “I’m not going to make you explain whatever got under your skin, but I’m here if you need anything. Be it to talk, or a hug. Alright?”

Hito nodded. “Can I have a hug? A short one?”

Tsukishima nodded, expressionless. He crossed the room to Hito and sat next to him. “You come to me.” 

Hito smiled gratefully. He pulled back after a few seconds, noting how Shima’s hands stayed over his shoulders. They sat in silence for a short while before Tsukishima stood. 

“Okay, we can do homework downstairs.”

~~~~~

They made it through math (with multiple questions from Hito) and science by the time they heard a knock on the door.

Tsukishima sighed and stood.

He walked to the door, opened it, and shut it again. A muffled ‘Hey!’ was heard from outside. Hito could recognize that voice out of one in a million. 

“Shima, let my brother in. I’m almost positive he brought me clothes.”

Tsukishima sighed heavily before opening the door again. “What do you want?”

“I come bearing clothes and humor.”

Tsukishima almost shut the door on him again, but realized that Hito would need clean clothes soon.

“You can come in, but I won’t hesitate to kick you right back out.”

Tarō mock saluted before following Shima inside. He shuffled his shoes off before walking to the living room and dropping the bag of clothes on Hito’s head.

“Tarō, what the fuck was that for?!”

“I want attention.”

“Then get my attention!”

“Done.”

Hito flipped him off as he started pulling the bag off his head. “I was _trying_ to do English!”

“But you know English.”

“I still have to _do_ it, leave me alone.” He whined.

Shima sighed from where he stood behind the couch. “Tarō, do you have anything else you want to do?”

Tarō looked up, “What’re you doing with him, Hito only gets this whiny when he’s running on like, no food.”

“We ate half an hour ago. Do you have anything else you need to do?”

“Not really.”

“In that case, I will respectfully ask you to get out of my house.”

Tarō gasped loudly. “I just want to give my brother affection!”

Hito didn’t look up from his homework. “I don’t want it.” He paused. “Actually, that’s a lie, but I think you need to leave anyway.”

“I’m sure your not-boyfriend will give you affection.”

“Now I _know_ you need to leave. Out.”

Tarō pouted. “Rejected by my own brother. Love you too, I guess.”

“I love you! No go before Shima kills you!”

To add to the effect, Tsukishima stood up. 

“Yeah, hate to break it to you, but your not-boyfriend isn’t all that scary. **Little twig bitch.** ”

“Out.” Tsukishima said as Hito tried not to laugh.

Tarō laughed and stood up. “Okay, okay, I can tell when I’m not wanted. No funny business tonight, _got it_ Tsukishima?”

Shima’s face flushed rapidly, though his expression didn’t change. He wordlessly walked to the door and opened it. Tarō walked over to put his shoes on. “Good luck finishing homework, Hito! **Have fun cuddling tonight!** ”

“ **Shut up or I tell Dion!** ”

Tarō chose not to respond as he slipped out the door. Tsukishima walked back to Hito, who had the clothes piled in his lap. “When you’re done, we’ll go upstairs, okay?”

Hito nodded, once again not looking up as he muttered phrases under his breath.

It takes Hito seven minutes to finish the reading and questions; six minutes for the two of them to clean up; and another three to get situated in the room. 

Tsukishima wordlessly handed Hito ‘his’ nightclothes from where they sat on the dresser before leaving the room for him to change. “Call me in when you’re done.”

Hito nodded before Shima closed the door. He tried to change quickly; almost falling when he went to change pants. “ _Fuck_.”

“Please don’t injure yourself anymore.” Came the muffled reaction through the door. Hito wanted to laugh, but the embarrassment that rushed through him made him attempt to change faster. He slid one of his legs into the sweatpants, and went to slip the other in when he got caught and fell off the bed.

“Hito?”

Hito looked towards the door from where he was on his back. “I meant to do that, I’m fine.”

He went back to wrestling with the sweatpants when he didn’t get a response. As quick as he could, he finished dressing and called Shima back in the room.

Hito made grabby hands. “Up!” 

Insistently, mortification crossed his face. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Tsukishima smirked. “So you want up, huh?” 

Hito tried to glare, though it was tainted by the unabashed redness of his face. “I’m _tired_ , okay?”

“Oh really? I couldn’t tell.” Shima said sarcastically.

“Are you gonna help me up or not?”

Tsukishima sighed but reached down and picked him up. “You weigh absolutely nothing.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Tsukishima walked the two steps to his bed before almost throwing Hito on the bed. 

“Hey! What was that for?”

“I’m getting you water, I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t ignore me!”

Tsukishima flipped Hito off without looking back. Hito, in turn, stuck his tongue out at him.

He decided to find a way to get under the covers while he waited. It took some maneuvering, but he managed to be sitting up against the headboard by the time Shima got back.

“At least you didn’t fall off while I was gone.”

“I’m not _totally_ incompetent.”

Tsukishima didn’t say anything as he handed the pill bottle from the side table to Hito. He waited until Hito had got a pill out and closed the bottle before taking it. He just barely managed to grab Hito’s hand before he put the pill in his mouth dry.

“I brought you water for a reason. Use it.”

Hito pouted but reached for the glass of water anyway. He takes a small sip before tilting his head back and swallowing the pill down. He finished the glass before reaching over and setting it on the table. The bed dipped behind him as Shima crawled in and got situated.

Hito had leaned back and scooted further under the blanket when he felt an arm loop around his middle and started pulling him backwards. He almost slipped onto his back before he came in contact with a firm surface. 

“Shima...?”

“Hm?” 

“What are you doing?”

“What do you _think_ I’m doing?”

Hito felt himself blush a little harder at the sheer ‘done’ in his tone. “What if Akiteru comes back?”

“Ignore it.”

“Easy for you to say...” Hito mumbled under his breath as he laid a hand on Tsukishima’s arm. He felt Shima flinch.

“Sorry!” Hito said, bringing his arm to his chest and cringing. Tsukishima sighed. He reached down and pulled the blanket up to Hito’s chest before pulling him closer than before. 

“It’s okay, Hitoshi.” 

Hito felt a small, confusing bit of affection burst in his chest as he laid his hand on Shima’s again. “If you’re sure.”

He could feel Tsukishima’s heartbeat against his back, making him hyper aware of his own. It was beating quickly. He tried to steady his breathing, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Are you two decent?”

Tsukishima looked up from his place behind Hito’s head. “Fuck off, we’re trying to sleep.”

“Just sleep, right?”

Hito tried to turn around as the door opened, but Tsukishima wouldn’t let him.

“Shima; don’t make me!”

Akiteru’s mouth dropped open comically. “I’m not that bad to deal with, am I?”

Tsukishima just groaned and tried to hide in Hito’s hair. 

“Wow, I feel loved.”

Shima just flipped him off while Hito looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, Akiteru. We’re just tired. We had a test today, then Shima had to go to practice.”

Tsukishima chose that time to speak up. “So _yes_ , just sleep.” 

“Well, I’m sorry that I was worried about poor Hito’s innocence.”

Hito, meanwhile, was trying to ignore both the brothers and the blush on his face. He was attempting to get lost in his thoughts, however dangerous that could be.

Shima, as if sensing what Hito was trying to do, tightened his grip slightly. “Right, Hitoshi?”

“Hmm?”

“I said, we’d rather Akiteru leave us alone so we can sleep.”

“And _I_ said that _I’m_ not leaving until I get confirmation that you’re not being held hostage.”

Hito could feel a small smile pulling at his lips. “I’m not being held hostage, Akiteru. I’m fine, I like spending time with Shima. And he’s right, we’d like to get some sleep, please, if you don’t mind.”

Akiteru seemed to have a smug smile on his face. “Alright then. I’ve gotten what I wanted.”

Hito didn’t see it, but Tsukishima was fiercely glaring at his brother. However, the effect was tarnished by the light blush on his face.

“Akiteru get out of here.”

“Alright, _cuddlebug_.” 

Tsukishima was taken aback. “I am _not_ a-“

“Says the boy with his glasses still on. I’ll be going now, get some sleep.”

Tsukishima rolled his eyes but took his hand from Hito’s waist to remove his glasses. He waited until Akiteru left to mumble, “Smartass.” 

Hito was about to turn around when he felt Shima’s hand around his middle. He pouted. “Shiiiiiimaaaa, let me turn aroooouund!”

He could feel Tsukishima’s chest shaking. “Do you want to see me that bad?”

“No.”

“Then what is it? Why do you want to turn around so badly?”

“I just wanna! _Please_?”

“I don’t know, I’m comfortable.”

“I’m not gonna stop bothering you until you let me roll over.”

Tsukishima opened his mouth to say something, but paused. Hito felt his grip loosen. He smiled in victory before turning over. 

Tsukishima laid face to face with Hito, eyes locked together. Hito beamed at him before the smile fades into a softer one. It made Tsukishima feel... happy. A soft brand of happy, that sits in the middle of his chest and radiates warmth. He decided that while it was the two of them, he could smile too. It wasn’t big, but it was more than he would usually let slip. He saw Hito’s eyes drop down to his lips. 

“You look good when you smile.”

Tsukishima froze for a few seconds as a light blush overtook his cheeks. “I... I didn’t know you looked at me so closely, Shorty.”

“Well, you don’t smile all that much, so it’s easy to notice when you do.”

“Most people would disagree with you.”

“Most people aren’t on your eye level.”

Shima stayed silent, eyes feeling heavy as he relaxed. He went to lay his head down for a moment. Hito took that moment to raise his hand to his hair, running through the blond strands.

“Your hair is really soft after you wash it.” Hito mumbled after yawning. Tsukishima hummed slightly in content or agreement, Hito couldn’t tell, and leaned his head into Hito’s hand as he let his eyes fall shut. Hito slowly and softly dragged his nails along Shima’s scalp. He quickly drew his hand back take his glasses off, prompting a higher-pitched groan, almost like a whine, from Tsukishima.

“Hold on, **Estrella**.”

“Waz‘at mean?” Tsukishima asked with a sleepy voice.

Hito’s eyes widened as he realized what he said. “Nothing, Shima. Just give me a minute.”

Tsukishima hummed. “Wa’ language was it?”

Hito paused before tentatively answering, “Spanish.”

“Hm... How’d ya know Spanish?” He yawned. 

Hito slid his hand back into Tsukishima’s hair, causing him to let out another hum. “Dion taught me when I was little. They taught me both Spanish and the bits of English that school doesn’t cover.”

“Tell me about them, please?”

Hito yawned before nodding. “Dion’s short for Dionysus. They work in theater; on Broadway in America. They do costumes. They’re really cool, and their house is always loud, but in a good way. They have a lot of siblings, all adopted like them, and **Madre** is really sweet.”

“Mad- a what?”

“Mother. That’s what she had Tarō and I call her.”

“They both seem nice.”

“They are. I miss seeing them.”

Tsukishima could sense the sadness and nostalgia in Hito's voice, so he pulled him closer and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

“You’re warm.”

Hito chuckled through the embarrassment. “You’re very cuddly when you’re tired. It’s endearing.”

Tsukishima just grumbled incoherently into Hito’s neck, the vibrations making him giggle slightly. “Goodnight, **Estrella**.”

“Night, Hito. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams.”

~~~~~

Tsukishima didn’t open his eyes when he felt Hito shuffling in his arms. He dismissed it and the mumbling as Hito waking up and turned over so they could get comfortable. 

“Mmm...go back to sleep...”

He could still hear the noise, but fell asleep shortly after. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but the next thing he knew he woke to the sounds of heavy breathing and soft sobs. He immediately woke up more. Shima quickly grabbed his glasses and looked over at Hito, who had a hand wrapped around his legs and one over his mouth.

“Hito?”

Hito looked up with scared and wet eyes. Shima could see the tear tracks on his face and how tense his muscles are. He also caught how Hito was favoring his left foot. He sighed softly.

“Okay. Let’s lay your legs out flat so you don’t hurt your foot.”

Hito immediately dropped the hand over his mouth to his legs. Tsukishima could see how tightly his lips were pressed together, only separating when he needed to take a particularly big breath. 

“Alright. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Hito opened his mouth slightly, but all that came out was a soft sob. He shook his head.

“That’s okay, Hito. Can I touch you?”

Hito nodded quickly and held out a shaky hand for Shima to take. He quickly pulled Hito into his lap before taking his hand. 

“Is this okay?”

Hito nodded again, resting his head against Shima’s chest. He had let his legs go; keeping them bent, but more loosely. They stayed like that as the minutes ticked by.

Timidly, Hito whispered, “You can go back to sleep. I’m sorry for waking you.”

Tsukishima just shook his head. “We’ll stay here until you're okay. Do you want to talk about it?”

Hito threaded his arms around Shima’s neck, tearing up again. “You... He... I’m sorry! I couldn’t do anything, he got you; I tried, I swear! Please don’t leave me-“

“Hito, Hito.” Shima tightened his grip on Hito. “I’m right here, I’m safe, I’m not going anywhere. No one got me, I’ve been right here all night.”

Hito nodded as he brought a hand down to wipe at his eyes. “I know, I know that, but it seems so _real_ , and I don’t want you to get hurt because of me; you don’t even know me that well, and-“

“Hito.”

Hito fell silent and held his breath.

“Breathe, Hito. It’s okay. I’m not going to get hurt because of you, because you’re not responsible for anyone’s actions but your own. Even then, there are some things out of your control. Nightmares are just something you deal with, and I’m right here to help. I may not know you too well yet, but I’m going to help any way I can, okay?”

Hito curled up tighter again. “You shouldn’t get attached to me. I’m not worth it.”

Tsukishima felt his eyes widen at Hito’s words, spoken like he’s said them a thousand times before. “Of course you’re worth it, Hito. You’re worth everything. I’ll tell you that as often as you need me to.”

Hito could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. “I’m not. Don’t lie to me!” He cried softly, turning his head away from Shima’s face. 

Tsukishima just pulled him closer and started rocking him. “You’re okay, Hito. I’m okay. Everything’s okay; we’re safe.”

Hito kept shaking his head but couldn’t fight the relaxing feeling of being in Shima’s arms. He eventually fell in a sleepy trance. “Can we try to sleep now?” He said softly.

Tsukishima let him go so he could crawl under the blankets. 

“Can we watch something until we fall asleep?”

Shima nodded before grabbing the computer from the side table. He opened Netflix and went to recently watched, opening a nature documentary series.

Hito yawned before speaking up. “You like watching these?”

Tsukishima nodded slightly as he put his arm around Hito’s shoulders. He let Hito lay his head on his chest, leaning back to make it easier. They stayed like that through three-quarters of the episode before Hito’s head slipped down to Shima’s lap. He sighed before adjusting Hito so his neck wouldn’t cramp in the morning. Slowly, he ran his fingers through Hito’s hair, gently working the knots out as he went. He kept doing that until he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He rubbed them with his free hand, realizing he never put his glasses back on. He had just never noticed. 

He slowly lifted Hito up enough that he could slip down to lay him on his chest. He then realized he never turned the computer off. Deciding it was too much trouble and it would turn itself off eventually, he tilted his head and fell asleep.

Not too long after, Tsukishima’s mother stepped into the room. She had heard the noise from the laptop and wanted to see what was happening. She slowly took in the sight of her son with a boy on his chest with a small smile on her face. After turning the computer off and moving it, she covered them both up with the blanket, kissed their foreheads, and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, Estrella means star. If I make any mistakes for Spanish please correct me. I do no speak Spanish what-so-ever, so I am using Google translate, which isn’t very accurate.


	11. Ukai??!?

With Thursday came mentions of a training camp with Nekoma, more practice, and shower nights. Hito, with much steeling of nerve and high emotions, took the quickest shower of his life and changed into a new set of pajamas. He stepped into the bedroom with folded arms and teary, fiercely closed eyes. 

“Hito? Are you okay?”

He kept his arms crossed over his chest as he tried to nod. 

“Really...?”

He nodded again, shakier.

“Okay. If you want me to... hold you... I will.”

“I want you to; just give me a second.”

“Alright. Would you explain to me what you're feeling, or would you rather be distracted?” 

Hito could tell he technically was given two options, but the first was more of a request than a question.

“Disgust, anxiety, wrong, bad, stupid, I can go on. Hug, please.” 

Shima scoots back more and pats the place beside him. Hito hesitantly sits, arms still around his chest.

“Put my arms on you, and they’ll stay there.”

He nodded and steeled himself. Carefully, he unfurled his arms. He debated how to go about this when Tsukishima offered up an arm. Hito took it.

“If I put this here, can I... um...” 

He said, wrapping it around his lower waist. Tsukishima waited before nodding. 

“Sit in my lap?”

Hito nodded.

“I’m gonna move against the headboard, then you can sit. That okay?” 

Hito nodded. He tried to figure out how to go about this before Tsukishima reached out a hand. Hito took it and let himself be led beside Shima, sitting sideways in his lap. Shima’s left arm went around Hito’s waist once more. He offered his right hand to Hito, who took it and set them in his lap. He laid his head on Shima’s shoulder to hide how he was tearing up. Tsukishima stayed silent again, instead focusing on the dinosaurs across the room. 

“What’s your favorite dinosaur?”

“Lambeosaurus.”

Tsukishima hummed. “I like the brachiosaurus.”

“They’re tall, like you.”

“That’s what Akiteru said. I think they’re very interesting. They swallowed rocks because they couldn’t chew their food completely. Lambeosaurus used their crest to make sound, correct?”

Hito nodded. “They used it to scare off predators and communicate.” 

Silence fell over the two of them. Shima played with Hito’s fingers, but kept the hand on Hito’s waist still. 

“How are you doing in classes?”

Hito shook his head sharply. “No school. Too stressful.”

“Alright. How’s your brother?”

“Talking to his partner all the time. You would think Dion hung the moon and all the stars the way Tarō talks about them.”

Tsukishima nodded, “You guys like space, don’t you?”

“Very much so.”

“What’s your favorite star?”

“Too specific. If we’re going off Harry Potter, Sirius.”

“Have you read Harry Potter?”

“Yes.” 

Hito had not. He just liked the personality of the guy he heard about through middle school.

“Alright, constellation then.”

“Ursas Major and Minor; you can’t separate them. It’s unfair, after all they went through to stay together.”

“I’m unfamiliar.”

“I’ll tell you another time,  **Estrella** . We should sleep.”

“I still don’t know what that means, Hito.”

“That can wait to. Sleep.”

Shima sighed and nudged Hito off of him. They settled against the pillows and pulled the blanket up enough to keep them warm before shutting their eyes.

Hito stayed like that as Shima’s grip tightened and he fell asleep. He tried to turn around, but could tell right away there’s not going to be any sleep for him tonight. He grabbed his phone off the side table and winced as it shined brightly in his face. He unlocked it and got comfortable. He was in for a long night.

~~~~~

“I’ll be in to practice in a few minutes, go on ahead.” Hito said sheepishly. 

Tsukishima nodded silently and continued to the club room. Hito sighed and entered the single bathroom, locking it behind him. He immediately hung his backpack up on a hook by the door and started taking his blazer off. 

He slowly took the top half of his uniform off, hanging each article up as he went. When he was just down to his binder, he froze in place. Slowly, he shifted his weight side to side; knowing he had to look but not wanting to see.

He sighed and limped to the mirror. He folded his binder up and started to pull. He breathed out and gave one final tug before it finally came off. He kept his eyes closed, took a deep breath, and looked himself in the eye. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to his sides. There was a myriad of bruises all along his rib cage, varying in sizes and colors. 

He gently ran his fingers along his ribs, cringing as his arm brushed his bruises. As quickly as he could, he checked for the weird shift he felt earlier, but came up with nothing. 

_ Thank the Gods... _

He sat down on the closed toilet lid and put his head in his hand. Eyes closed, he took the easiest breaths he took all day. His torso screamed at the movement, the bruises and impressions of the binder stretching painfully.

He felt tears come to his eyes but tried to blink them away. He folded his binder and stuck it in the bottom of his bag before putting his shirt back on. He kept his eyes closed for a little while more, trying not to break down. He knew Tarō would get upset again, he knew he needed a bigger binder, but he  _ couldn’t _ . He  _ couldn’t _ get a bigger one, he  _ couldn’t _ tell anyone, and he  _ couldn’t _ stop wearing it. 

_ No one would take him seriously otherwise. _

Hito pulled on his Karasuno jacket, zipped it up, and shrugged on his backpack. He held onto the rail tightly as he made his way to the gym. Quietly, he switched his shoes and made his way to the stage.

Suga walked over to him. “Hito! Hey!”

Hito waved exhaustedly. “Hey Suga. How was school?” 

Suga ignored him. “You look exhausted.”

Hito’s eyes widened. “I’m just a little tired, I’ll be fine.” 

“You need sleep, Hito. How about you go to the loft? You can still watch, if you want, but if you fall asleep you won’t get hit.”

Hito panicked. “That’s not necessary!”

Once again, Suga ignored him. “Yamaguchi! Come take Hito up to the loft!” 

Yamaguchi jolted, but ran over to help. “Hey Hito; what’s up?” 

Suga cut in before Hito could answer. “Can you take Hito up to the loft? There’s stairs backstage, but he needs the rest.”

Yamaguchi nodded determinedly as he climbed on the stage. “I can do it!” He turned to Hito. “You can just get on my back, okay? I’m not as strong as Tsukki is.” 

Hito tried to protest, but Yamaguchi was already turning around. He gave up and climbed on. Yamaguchi started climbing the stairs, stopping every so often to adjust Hito’s weight. He walked him to the corner of the far wall and took off his jacket.

“Yama, you don’t have to-“

“Take it, please.” 

Hito could hear something in his voice that made him take it. “Thank you.”

“Suga said you need rest, so go ahead and use it as a pillow, if you need to. I’ll come get you after practice!”

Hito nodded and started folding the jacket up. He tied the sleeves together as Yamaguchi rejoined the team downstairs. He carefully crawled to the edge. 

“ _ Shima _ !” 

Tsukishima glanced up. “Yes, Shorty?” 

“I want your jacket!”

“Why should I give it to you?” 

“Because I’m hurt and you're my friend and I want it.”

“I’m gonna say no. I’d like to be able to wear it, and I know for a fact Yamaguchi will not be waking you up.”

“Right!” Yama added.

“I won’t leave you alone until you give it to me.”

“Just hand it over, Tsukishima. Hito could use the extra padding against the floor.”

“Yeah, no.”

“C’mon, Tsukki!”

“Yeah, c’mon Tsukishima.” The whole team chimed in until Tsukishima sighed heavily and walked towards the stage. A cheer rang through the gym.

“Shut up.” He said definitively.

He sighed when he saw Hito’s hopeful face as he was sitting on the floor. “You know, you have a jacket right there. You could use it.”

“I  _ will _ use it. It’s gonna be my pillow, that’s what Yama wanted me to use it for.”

Shima sighed and handed his jacket over. “If you fall asleep, we’re not coming up to get you.” He started to walk away.

“Yes you are! Yama would make you!”

Tsukishima didn’t respond, instead climbing down the ladder. Hito decided to get situated. He placed Yama’s jacket by the corner so he would be lying against the wall. He laid his head down and shuffled the jacket around himself. With his back to the team, he pulled the collar under his chin and took his glasses off.

“You’d think I’d’ve stopped doing that by this point.” He muttered under his breath.

He sat them down a ways behind them so he couldn’t roll over on them before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Using the sounds of the team as white noise, he slowly fell asleep. 

~~~~~

Hito could feel himself bouncing slightly as he was carried bridal style by someone he could identify as Shima. Once the movement leveled out some, a bright light hit Hito’s eyes. Huffing and decidedly not opening his eyes, he turned to hide against Shima’s chest. He felt Tsukishima sigh as the team ‘ooh’ed and ‘aw’ed. He could feel the rumble in Shima’s chest before feeling himself being passed onto someone’s back. 

He blearily opened his eyes for a quick second, seeing the team watching with amusement. He scanned them quickly before registering Mr. Ukai. 

“Hi, Mr. Ukai.”

They started walking again. 

“Bye, Mr. Ukai.”

He let his head land on Yamaguchi’s shoulder and quickly fell asleep again. The next thing he knew, he was being shifted again. There was faint mumbling and suddenly he was warm again. It felt like Tsukishima. He didn’t know how he could tell, but it felt different. It felt safe. He tried to ask what was going on, but even he could tell that it only came out as mumbling. He could hear them talking, but decided it was too much effort to make sense of it.

The next thing he knew, he was being shaken awake. He sat up slowly, looking around and realizing he was in Tsukishima’s room.

“When did I get here...?”

“An hour and half ago, sleeping beauty.”

“Why’d you let me sleep this long?”

“Because you seemed to need the sleep.”

“Then why’d you wake me up?”

“Because it’s time for dinner. Ready to stop asking questions?”

Hito glared slightly, but moved to stand up. Tsukishima promptly put a stop to that. 

“Ankle.” 

Hito switched to pouting. “Then pick me up. ‘M too sleepy for this, anyway.”

Tsukishima sighed melodramatically, but picked Hito up nonetheless. “If I must.”

“Yes, you must.” Hito said, adjusting himself in the bridal-style carry.

When they got downstairs, Shima set him down at the table. “Try not to fall asleep, Hitoshi.”

“I won’t!”

That didn’t last long. He managed to eat half his plate before setting his head down and closing his eyes. He heard someone quietly laugh, but didn’t pay any mind to it. 

“Hitoshi, don’t fall asleep.”

He hummed dismissively. 

“Hito, I mean it. I will not hesitate to wake you up with cold water.”

“ _ Kei _ , leave him alone. If he needs sleep, he should sleep.” Mrs. Tsukishima chastised.

“Yeah, Kei, let your boyfriend get some sleep. Lord knows how late you kept him up.”

“ _ Akiteru Tsukishima _ , apologize to Kei and Hitoshi. That was disrespectful.”

“Yes, Mom.” He turned to Shima. “Sorry, Kei.” 

Tsukishima was unimpressed. “Gee, thanks.”

”Kei. You need to be nice too.”

“Yes, Mom.” He said, looking down. 

“Good. Now take Hitoshi back upstairs, he looks half-dead as it is.”

“May I wait until we finish eating? That way Hito doesn’t wake up on his own, in my room?” 

“You may. Take your time. Let’s try and let Hitoshi sleep a little.”

Tsukishima said nothing, only glared at his brother and started eating again. He finished quickly, thanking his mother verbally for the food and silently for the amount he was forced to eat, before picking Hito up again. 

“Let’s go, Hitoshi.”

He walked back to his room and laid Hito on the bed again, who slowly sat up. 

“You need to stay awake; Hito. You’re being a  _ little _ lazy.”

Hito’s eyes snapped open and he crossed his hands in front of his chest, frantically grabbing at his shirt. He gradually started to hyperventilate and squeeze his eyes shut. 

Shima’s eyes, on the other hand, widened. He had no clue what was going on or how to stop it; but Hito was most definitely freaking out about something. He tried to think; quickly abandoning the reasoning and moving to the response. 

He decided to sit next to Hito and lay an arm around his shoulders slowly. Enough to comfort but not to scare or restrict. Hito tensed up even more, but did not pull away, so he kept his arm there. 

“Don’t die, Shorty, I’m not explaining that to the captain.” 

Hito didn’t even look up. Tsukishima sighed heavily, which made Hito even more tense. Tsukishima rubbed his eyes with his free hand before deciding to stay silent. They stayed like that for six and a half minutes, according to the clock on the wall, before Hito slowly let go of his shirt and opened his eyes. He gently felt his checks and wiped away the tears still on them. He seemed so detached that it scared Shima. 

“You okay?”

Hito nodded and turned to Tsukishima with a small, bitter, semi-faked smile. 

“I’m fine.”

Tsukishima just nodded slowly and pulled Hito closer; before completely laying backwards, dragging Hito with him.

“Good. We can actually go to sleep then.”

Hito frowned. “But I thought that I was being too lazy...?”

“No, I was trying to make a joke, that you didn’t seem to register.” 

Hito hummed and leaned closer to Tsukishima’s side, resting his head on his chest. A hand came to mess with Hito’s hair, quickly lulling him mostly back asleep. 

“What was that, Hito?” He said calmly.

Hito mumbled, leaning into the hand above him. “Anxiety attack. M’good now.”

Shima nodded and decided it warranted researching. He tried to work his way through the possible causes for such attack, and landed upon it being the lazy comment alone. Which made sense, but was very concerning.

“Hitoshi. You do realize I have to call the police about your father, correct?”

His eyes shot open and he grabbed Shima’s shirt, looking him in the eye. “ _ Don’t _ !”

“Hitoshi, what’s going on is abuse. You do realize this, yes?”

“Don’t treat me like a child!  _ Yes _ I realize that! But the police won’t fix it!” He said fiercely, then... saddened. “It just makes everything worse. I couldn’t walk for  _ three  _ _ days _ , Tsukishima. I’m not going through that again. Don’t make me,  _ please _ !”

His desperation was tangible, which made Shima affronted. “Okay, okay, fine. I won’t; but the minute you get that bad again, I will not hesitate. This is just gonna get bigger the moment I step in, so I’ll stay back for now.”

Hito nodded and wiped his teary eyes before laying his head back down. “I’m sorry for speaking that way. It was a panic response.” 

“I’m aware, Hitoshi. I shouldn’t have belittled you. Get some rest.”

He nodded and let go of Tsukishima’s shirt. He turned his back away from him, and Tsukishima did the same. Hito started to count the specks on the wall. He got to fifty before turning back over and burying his face into Shima’s back. Tsukishima smiled slightly, deciding to himself that it was triumphant and not pleased; he reached a hand back and held Hito’s shirt anyway.

“Goodnight, Shima.” 

“Goodnight, Hito.” 

~~~~~

The next week went by quickly. Classes, hobbling home, homework, showers, food, Tarō dropping off clothes, walking to school, lunch, Tarō signing his permission slip (as an emergency contact), so on and so forth. Soon enough, Friday afternoon came up.

“Everyone have their stuff loaded up?”

“ _ YEAH _ !” Most everyone cheered.

“Then load up and let’s go!” Ukai called as Takeda readied his clipboard.

_ This... _ Hito thought, carefully moving forward,  _ will be interesting. _


End file.
